HB4547 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 18953 SPS 32398 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4547

Introduced 1/30/2026, by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

10 ILCS 5/25-6

from Ch. 46, par. 25-6

Amends the Election Code. Provides the procedure for filling a vacancy of a Senator or Representative in the General Assembly. Provides that within 3 days after a vacancy, the committee for that legislative or representative district shall create a uniform application for candidates seeking appointment and determine the date, time, and location at which the committee shall make the appointment (allowing for at least 7 days of public notice). Provides that applications received within 2 days before the appointment shall be made publicly available. Provides that candidates shall be granted an opportunity to present their credentials publicly and take questions from the committeepersons. Provides for a proxy for a committeeperson that is ineligible to vote for an appointment. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning elections.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Section 25-6 as follows:

(10 ILCS 5/25-6) (from Ch. 46, par. 25-6)

Sec. 25-6. General Assembly vacancies.

(a) When a vacancy occurs in the office of State Senator or Representative in the General Assembly, the vacancy shall be filled within 30 days by appointment of the legislative or representative committee of that legislative or representative district of the political party of which the incumbent was a candidate at the time of his election, as provided in subsection (a-5). Prior to holding a meeting to fill the vacancy, the committee shall make public (i) the names of the committeeperson on the appropriate legislative or representative committee, (ii) the date, time, and location of the meeting to fill the vacancy, and (iii) any information on how to apply or submit a name for consideration as the appointee. A meeting to fill a vacancy in office shall be held in the district or virtually, and any meeting shall be accessible to the public. The appointee shall be a member of the same political party as the person he succeeds was at the time of his election, and shall be otherwise eligible to serve as a member of the General Assembly.

(a-5) Within 3 days after a vacancy occurring in the office of State Senator or Representative in the General Assembly, the legislative or representative committee of that legislative or representative district shall convene to: (i) create a uniform application for all candidates seeking appointment to the vacated office; and (ii) determine the date, time, and location at which the committee shall make its appointment, provided the date selected allows for at least 7 days of public notice before the appointment will occur. The uniform application shall be made publicly available by all committeepersons of the legislative or representative district. Applications received within 2 days before the appointment shall be made publicly available on the website of the committeeperson holding the majority of the votes pursuant to subsection (d). If 2 or more committeepersons hold the majority of votes or in making appointments in legislative or representative districts comprising only one county or part of a county other than a county containing 2,000,000 or more inhabitants, all such committeepersons shall be responsible for making applications received within 2 days before the appointment publicly available. On the day selected by the committee for appointment, all candidates seeking appointment shall be granted an opportunity to present their credentials publicly to all in attendance and take questions from committeepersons.

(a-10) If a committeeperson is ineligible to cast his or her vote pursuant to subsection (d-5), because he or she is also the former holder of the office now vacant, the legislative or representative committee on which the former officeholder serves as a committeeperson shall meet to elect a proxy member to vote for the ineligible committeeperson. The proxy shall be entitled to the same number of votes to which the ineligible committeeperson would have otherwise been entitled.

(b) When a vacancy occurs in the office of a legislator elected other than as a candidate of a political party, the vacancy shall be filled within 30 days of such occurrence by appointment of the Governor. The appointee shall not be a member of a political party, and shall be otherwise eligible to serve as a member of the General Assembly. Provided, however, the appropriate body of the General Assembly may, by resolution, allow a legislator elected other than as a candidate of a political party to affiliate with a political party for his term of office in the General Assembly. A vacancy occurring in the office of any such legislator who affiliates with a political party pursuant to resolution shall be filled within 30 days of such occurrence by appointment of the appropriate legislative or representative committee of that legislative or representative district of the political party with which the legislator so affiliates. The appointee shall be a member of the political party with which the incumbent affiliated.

(c) For purposes of this Section, a person is a member of a political party for 23 months after (i) signing a candidate petition, as to the political party whose nomination is sought; (ii) signing a statement of candidacy, as to the political party where nomination or election is sought; (iii) signing a Petition of Political Party Formation, as to the proposed political party; (iv) applying for and receiving a primary ballot, as to the political party whose ballot is received; or (v) becoming a candidate for election to or accepting appointment to the office of ward, township, precinct or state central committeeperson.

(d) In making appointments under this Section, except as provided in subsection (d-5), each committeeperson of the appropriate legislative or representative committee shall be entitled to one vote for each vote that was received, in that portion of the legislative or representative district which he represents on the committee, by the Senator or Representative whose seat is vacant at the general election at which that legislator was elected to the seat which has been vacated and a majority of the total number of votes received in such election by the Senator or Representative whose seat is vacant is required for the appointment of his successor; provided, however, that in making appointments in legislative or representative districts comprising only one county or part of a county other than a county containing 2,000,000 or more inhabitants, each committeeperson shall be entitled to cast only one vote.

(d-5) A State Senator or Representative who is also a committeeperson, elected pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 7-8, is prohibited from participating in the appointment of his or her successor. If the vacancy in the office of State Senator or Representative is to be filled by the legislative or representative committee on which the former officeholder serves as a committeeperson, he or she shall not participate in the selection process or cast any votes for a candidate. Any votes he or she would have voted pursuant to subsection (d) shall be voted by the proxy member elected by the other committeepersons of the legislative or representative committee, pursuant to subsection (a-10).

(e) Appointments made under this Section shall be in writing and shall be signed by members of the legislative or representative committee whose total votes are sufficient to make the appointments or by the Governor, as the case may be. Such appointments shall be filed with the Secretary of State and with the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate, whichever is appropriate.

(f) An appointment made under this Section shall be for the remainder of the term, except that, if the appointment is to fill a vacancy in the office of State Senator and the vacancy occurs with more than 28 months remaining in the term, the term of the appointment shall expire at the time of the next general election at which time a Senator shall be elected for a new term commencing on the determination of the results of the election and ending on the second Wednesday of January in the second odd-numbered year next occurring. If a vacancy in office of State Senator occurs with more than 28 months remaining in the term and after the period for filing petitions for the general primary election, then the appropriate legislative committee for the applicable political party may fill a vacancy in nomination for that office in accordance with Section 7-61 for the next general election, except that each committeeperson of the appropriate legislative committee shall be entitled to one vote for each vote received, by the Senator whose seat is vacant, in the portion of the legislative district that the committeeperson represents on the committee, at the most recent general election at which that Senator was elected. A majority of the total number of votes received in that election by the Senator whose seat is vacant is required to fill the vacancy in nomination. However, in filling a vacancy in nomination in a legislative district composed of only one county or part of a county, other than a county containing 2,000,000 or more inhabitants, each committeeperson shall be entitled to cast only one vote. Whenever a Senator has been appointed to fill a vacancy and was thereafter elected to that office, the term of service under the authority of the election shall be considered a new term of service, separate from the term of service rendered under the authority of the appointment.

(Source: P.A. 102-15, eff. 6-17-21; 103-586, eff. 5-3-24.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.