SB3338 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  

 


 
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SB3338

 

Introduced 2/7/2012, by Sen. Don Harmon

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
10 ILCS 5/7-41  from Ch. 46, par. 7-41

    Amends the Election Code. Specifies that the area on polling place property beyond the campaign free zone that qualifies as a public forum includes immediately adjacent sidewalks and parkways.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB3338LRB097 19253 PJG 64496 b

1    AN ACT concerning elections.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 3. The Election Code is amended by changing Section
57-41 as follows:
 
6    (10 ILCS 5/7-41)  (from Ch. 46, par. 7-41)
7    Sec. 7-41. (a) All officers upon whom is imposed by law the
8duty of designating and providing polling places for general
9elections, shall provide in each such polling place so
10designated and provided, a sufficient number of booths for such
11primary election, which booths shall be provided with shelves,
12such supplies and pencils as will enable the voter to prepare
13his ballot for voting and in which voters may prepare their
14ballots screened from all observation as to the manner in which
15they do so. Such booths shall be within plain view of the
16election officers and both they and the ballot boxes shall be
17within plain view of those within the proximity of the voting
18booths. No person other than election officers and the
19challengers allowed by law and those admitted for the purpose
20of voting, as hereinafter provided, shall be permitted within
21the proximity of the voting booths, except by authority of the
22primary officers to keep order and enforce the law.
23    (b) The number of such voting booths shall not be less than

 

 

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1one to every seventy-five voters or fraction thereof, who voted
2at the last preceding election in the precinct or election
3district.
4    (c) No person shall do any electioneering or soliciting of
5votes on primary day within any polling place or within one
6hundred feet of any polling place, or, at the option of a
7church or private school, on any of the property of that church
8or private school that is a polling place. Election officers
9shall place 2 or more cones, small United States national
10flags, or some other marker a distance of 100 horizontal feet
11from each entrance to the room used by voters to engage in
12voting, which shall be known as the polling room. If the
13polling room is located within a building that is a private
14business, a public or private school, or a church or other
15organization founded for the purpose of religious worship and
16the distance of 100 horizontal feet ends within the interior of
17the building, then the markers shall be placed outside of the
18building at each entrance used by voters to enter that building
19on the grounds adjacent to the thoroughfare or walkway. If the
20polling room is located within a public or private building
21with 2 or more floors and the polling room is located on the
22ground floor, then the markers shall be placed 100 horizontal
23feet from each entrance to the polling room used by voters to
24engage in voting. If the polling room is located in a public or
25private building with 2 or more floors and the polling room is
26located on a floor above or below the ground floor, then the

 

 

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1markers shall be placed a distance of 100 feet from the nearest
2elevator or staircase used by voters on the ground floor to
3access the floor where the polling room is located. The area
4within where the markers are placed shall be known as a
5campaign free zone, and electioneering is prohibited pursuant
6to this subsection. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
7Section, a church or private school may choose to apply the
8campaign free zone to its entire property, and, if so, the
9markers shall be placed near the boundaries on the grounds
10adjacent to the thoroughfares or walkways leading to the
11entrances used by the voters. At or near the door of each
12polling place, the election judges shall place signage
13indicating the proper entrance to the polling place. In
14addition, the election judges shall ensure that a sign
15identifying the location of the polling place is placed on a
16nearby public roadway. The State Board of Elections shall
17establish guidelines for the placement of polling place
18signage.
19    The area on polling place property beyond the campaign free
20zone, whether publicly or privately owned, including
21immediately adjacent sidewalks and parkways, is a public forum
22for the time that the polls are open on an election day. At the
23request of election officers any publicly owned building must
24be made available for use as a polling place. A person shall
25have the right to congregate and engage in electioneering on
26any polling place property while the polls are open beyond the

 

 

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1campaign free zone, including but not limited to, the placement
2of temporary signs. This subsection shall be construed
3liberally in favor of persons engaging in electioneering on all
4polling place property beyond the campaign free zone for the
5time that the polls are open on an election day.
6    (d) The regulation of electioneering on polling place
7property on an election day, including but not limited to the
8placement of temporary signs, is an exclusive power and
9function of the State. A home rule unit may not regulate
10electioneering and any ordinance or local law contrary to
11subsection (c) is declared void. This is a denial and
12limitation of home rule powers and functions under subsection
13(h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.
14(Source: P.A. 95-699, eff. 11-9-07.)