Full Text of SB3338 97th General Assembly
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 |
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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 |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning elections.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 3. The Election Code is amended by changing Section | 5 | | 7-41 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 | 8 | | duty of
designating and providing polling places for general | 9 | | elections, shall provide
in each such polling place so | 10 | | designated and provided, a sufficient number of
booths for such | 11 | | primary election, which booths shall be provided with
shelves, | 12 | | such supplies and pencils as will enable the voter to prepare | 13 | | his
ballot for voting and in which voters may prepare their | 14 | | ballots screened
from all observation as to the manner in which | 15 | | they do so. Such booths shall be
within plain view of the | 16 | | election officers and both they and the ballot boxes
shall be | 17 | | within plain view of those within the proximity of the voting | 18 | | booths.
No person other than election officers and the | 19 | | challengers allowed by law and
those admitted for the purpose | 20 | | of voting, as hereinafter provided, shall be
permitted within | 21 | | the proximity of the voting booths, except
by authority of the | 22 | | primary 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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| 1 | | one to every
seventy-five voters or fraction thereof, who voted | 2 | | at the last preceding
election in the precinct or election | 3 | | district.
| 4 | | (c) No person shall do any electioneering or soliciting of | 5 | | votes on
primary day within any polling place or within one | 6 | | hundred feet of any polling
place, or, at the option of a | 7 | | church or private school, on any of the property of that church | 8 | | or private school that is a polling place. Election officers | 9 | | shall place 2 or more cones, small United States
national | 10 | | flags, or some other marker a distance of 100 horizontal feet | 11 | | from
each entrance to the room used by voters to engage in | 12 | | voting, which shall be
known as the polling room. If
the | 13 | | polling room is located within a building that is a private | 14 | | business, a public or private
school, or a church or other | 15 | | organization founded for the purpose of religious
worship and | 16 | | the
distance of 100 horizontal feet ends within the interior of | 17 | | the
building, then the markers shall be placed outside of the
| 18 | | building at each entrance used by voters to enter that
building | 19 | | on the grounds adjacent to the thoroughfare or walkway. If the | 20 | | polling
room is located within a public or private building | 21 | | with 2 or more floors and
the polling room is located on the | 22 | | ground floor, then the markers shall be
placed 100 horizontal | 23 | | feet from each entrance to the polling room used by
voters to | 24 | | engage in voting. If the polling room is located in a public or
| 25 | | private building with 2 or more floors and the polling room is | 26 | | located on a
floor above or below the ground floor,
then the |
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| 1 | | markers shall be placed a distance of 100 feet from the nearest
| 2 | | elevator or staircase used by voters on the ground floor to | 3 | | access the floor
where the polling room is located. The area | 4 | | within where the markers are placed
shall be known as a | 5 | | campaign free zone, and electioneering is prohibited
pursuant | 6 | | to this subsection. Notwithstanding any other provision of this | 7 | | Section, a church or private school may choose to apply the | 8 | | campaign free zone to its entire property, and, if so, the | 9 | | markers shall be placed near the boundaries on the grounds | 10 | | adjacent to the thoroughfares or walkways leading to the | 11 | | entrances used by the voters.
At or near the door of each | 12 | | polling place, the election judges shall place signage | 13 | | indicating the proper entrance to the polling place. In | 14 | | addition, the election judges shall ensure that a sign | 15 | | identifying the location of the polling place is placed on a | 16 | | nearby public roadway. The State Board of Elections shall | 17 | | establish guidelines for the placement of polling place | 18 | | signage.
| 19 | | The area on polling place property beyond the campaign free | 20 | | zone, whether
publicly or privately owned, including | 21 | | immediately adjacent sidewalks and parkways, is a public forum | 22 | | for the time that the polls are
open on an election day. At the | 23 | | request of election officers any publicly owned
building must | 24 | | be made available for use as a polling place. A person shall | 25 | | have
the right to congregate and engage in electioneering on | 26 | | any polling place
property while the polls are open beyond the |
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| 1 | | campaign free zone, including but
not limited to, the placement | 2 | | of temporary signs.
This subsection shall be construed | 3 | | liberally in favor of persons engaging in
electioneering
on all | 4 | | polling place property beyond the campaign free zone for the | 5 | | time that
the polls are
open on an election day.
| 6 | | (d) The regulation of electioneering on polling place | 7 | | property on an
election
day, including but not limited to the | 8 | | placement of temporary signs, is an
exclusive power and | 9 | | function of the State. A home rule unit may not regulate
| 10 | | electioneering and any ordinance or local law contrary to | 11 | | subsection (c) is
declared void. This is a denial and | 12 | | limitation 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.)
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