Court Finds the Election Code’s “Full-Slate Requirement” Unconstitutional
During the 2012
election, the Libertarian Party of Illinois attempted to field a candidate for
county auditor in Kane County. The
Libertarian Party was considered a “new party” under Illinois election laws rather
than an “established party” because at the previous election it did not poll
more than 5% of the entire votes cast within the political subdivision. Unlike an established party, the Illinois
Election Code requires that a new party file “a complete list of candidates of
such party for all offices to be filled in the state, or such district or
political subdivision as the case may be, at the next ensuing election.” Effectively,
the full-slate requirement allowed the Libertarian Party to field a candidate
for county auditor only if it also proposed candidates for circuit clerk,
reorder, prosecutor, coroner, board chairman, and school superintendent.
The Libertarian
Party challenged the full-slate requirement in federal court, arguing that it violated
its right of political association under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The lower court found for the Libertarian Party, and the state appealed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
The 7th Circuit first determined that a restriction on a political party’s access to the
ballot must be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest because
voters can only assert their preferences through candidates or parties. The
court rejected the state’s argument that the full-slate requirement was
justified by the state’s interest in political stability, preventing ballot
overcrowding, and avoiding voter confusion, finding that “we have little
difficulty concluding that the full-slate requirement severely burdens the
First Amendment rights of minor parties, their members, and voters.” The court held
that by creating unwanted candidates, the full-slate requirement actually
increased political instability, ballot overcrowding, and voter confusion. The court noted that Illinois' new party law was the only one of its kind in the country. Finally, the 7th Circuit concluded that a party’s failure to field a
full-slate candidate could not preclude a party’s candidate from accessing the
ballot and held that the full-slate requirement of the Illinois Election Code was
unconstitutional.
Although the 7th Circuit found Illinois' statutory "full slate" requirement for new party candidates was unconstitutional, it did not strike down the other statutory requirements for new parties, including the minimum signature requirements. Libertarian Party of Illinois v. Scholz (7th Cir. Sept. 22, 2017)
Post Authored by Jessi DeWalt & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink
