Full Text of SB0299 95th General Assembly
SB0299enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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SB0299 Enrolled |
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| AN ACT concerning elections.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing | 5 |
| Sections 7-34 and 17-23 as follows:
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| (10 ILCS 5/7-34) (from Ch. 46, par. 7-34)
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| Sec. 7-34. Pollwatchers in a primary election shall be | 8 |
| authorized in
the following manner:
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| (1) Each established political party shall be entitled to | 10 |
| appoint
one pollwatcher per precinct. Such pollwatchers must be | 11 |
| affiliated with
the political party for which they are | 12 |
| pollwatching and must be a registered
voter in Illinois.
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| (2) Each candidate shall be entitled to appoint two | 14 |
| pollwatchers per
precinct. For Federal, State, county, | 15 |
| township, and municipal primary elections, the
pollwatchers | 16 |
| must be registered to vote in Illinois.
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| (3) Each organization of citizens within the county or | 18 |
| political
subdivision, which has among its purposes or | 19 |
| interests the investigation
or prosecution of election frauds, | 20 |
| and which shall have registered its
name and address and the | 21 |
| names and addresses of its principal officers
with the proper | 22 |
| election authority at least 40 days before the primary
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| election, shall be entitled to appoint one pollwatcher per |
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| precinct.
For all primary elections, the pollwatcher must be | 2 |
| registered to vote in
Illinois.
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| (3.5) Each State nonpartisan civic organization within the | 4 |
| county or political subdivision shall be entitled to appoint | 5 |
| one pollwatcher per precinct, provided that no more than 2 | 6 |
| pollwatchers appointed by State nonpartisan civic | 7 |
| organizations shall be present in a precinct polling place at | 8 |
| the same time. Each organization shall have registered the | 9 |
| names and addresses of its principal officers with the proper | 10 |
| election authority at least 40 days before the primary | 11 |
| election. The pollwatchers must be registered to vote in | 12 |
| Illinois. For the purpose of this paragraph, a "State | 13 |
| nonpartisan civic organization" means any corporation, | 14 |
| unincorporated association, or organization that: | 15 |
| (i) as part of its written articles of incorporation, | 16 |
| bylaws, or charter or by separate written declaration, has | 17 |
| among its stated purposes the provision of voter | 18 |
| information and education, the protection of individual | 19 |
| voters' rights, and the promotion of free and equal | 20 |
| elections; | 21 |
| (ii) is organized or primarily conducts its activities | 22 |
| within the State of Illinois; and | 23 |
| (iii) continuously maintains an office or business | 24 |
| location within the State of Illinois, together with a | 25 |
| current listed telephone number (a post office box number | 26 |
| without a current listed telephone number is not |
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| sufficient).
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| (4) Each organized group of proponents or opponents of a | 3 |
| ballot
proposition, which shall have registered the name and | 4 |
| address of its
organization or committee and the name and | 5 |
| address of its chairman with
the proper election authority at | 6 |
| least 40 days before the primary
election, shall be entitled to | 7 |
| appoint one pollwatcher per precinct. The
pollwatcher must be | 8 |
| registered to vote in Illinois.
| 9 |
| (5) In any primary election held to nominate candidates for | 10 |
| the offices
of a municipality of less than 3,000,000 population | 11 |
| that is situated in
2 or more counties, a pollwatcher who is a | 12 |
| resident of a county in which
any part of the municipality is
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| situated shall be eligible to serve as a pollwatcher in any | 14 |
| polling place
located within such municipality, provided that | 15 |
| such pollwatcher otherwise
complies with the respective | 16 |
| requirements of subsections (1) through (4)
of this Section and | 17 |
| is a registered voter whose residence is within
Illinois.
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| All pollwatchers shall be required to have proper | 19 |
| credentials. Such
credentials shall be printed in sufficient | 20 |
| quantities, shall be issued
by and under the facsimile | 21 |
| signature(s) of the election authority and
shall be available | 22 |
| for distribution at least 2 weeks prior to the
election. Such | 23 |
| credentials shall be authorized by the real or facsimile
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| signature of the State or local party official or the candidate | 25 |
| or the
presiding officer of the civic organization or the | 26 |
| chairman of the
proponent or opponent group, as the case may |
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| be.
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| Pollwatcher credentials shall be in substantially the | 3 |
| following form:
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| POLLWATCHER CREDENTIALS
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| TO THE JUDGES OF ELECTION:
| 6 |
| In accordance with the provisions of the Election Code,
the | 7 |
| undersigned hereby appoints ........... (name of pollwatcher)
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| at .......... (address) in the county of ...........,
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| .......... (township or municipality) of ........... (name), | 10 |
| State of Illinois
and who is duly registered to vote from this | 11 |
| address,
to act as a pollwatcher in the ........... precinct of | 12 |
| the
.......... ward (if applicable) of the ...........
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| (township or municipality) of ........... at the
........... | 14 |
| election to be held on (insert date).
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| ........................ (Signature of Appointing Authority)
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| ........................ TITLE (party official, candidate,
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| civic organization president,
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| proponent or opponent group chairman)
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| Under penalties provided by law pursuant to Section 29-10 | 20 |
| of the
Election Code, the undersigned pollwatcher certifies | 21 |
| that he or she resides
at .............. (address) in the | 22 |
| county of ........., ......... (township
or municipality) of | 23 |
| .......... (name), State of Illinois, and is duly
registered to | 24 |
| vote in Illinois.
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| ........................... ..........................
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| (Precinct and/or Ward in (Signature of Pollwatcher)
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| Which Pollwatcher Resides)
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| Pollwatchers must present their credentials to the Judges | 4 |
| of Election
upon entering the polling place. Pollwatcher | 5 |
| credentials properly
executed and signed shall be proof of the | 6 |
| qualifications of the
pollwatcher authorized thereby. Such | 7 |
| credentials are retained by the
Judges and returned to the | 8 |
| Election Authority at the end of the day of election
with the | 9 |
| other election materials. Once a pollwatcher has surrendered a
| 10 |
| valid credential, he may leave and reenter the polling place | 11 |
| provided
that such continuing action does not disrupt the | 12 |
| conduct of the election.
Pollwatchers may be substituted during | 13 |
| the course of the day, but established
political parties, | 14 |
| candidates, qualified civic organizations and proponents
and | 15 |
| opponents of a ballot proposition can have only as many | 16 |
| pollwatchers
at any given time as are authorized in this | 17 |
| Article. A substitute must
present his signed credential to the | 18 |
| judges of election upon entering the
polling place. Election | 19 |
| authorities must provide a sufficient number of
credentials to | 20 |
| allow for substitution of pollwatchers.
After the polls have | 21 |
| closed, pollwatchers shall be allowed to
remain until the | 22 |
| canvass of votes is completed; but may leave and
reenter only | 23 |
| in cases of necessity, provided that such action is not so
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| continuous as to disrupt the canvass of votes.
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| Candidates seeking office in a district or municipality |
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| encompassing 2
or more counties shall be admitted to any and | 2 |
| all polling places throughout
such district or municipality | 3 |
| without regard to the counties in which such
candidates are | 4 |
| registered to vote. Actions of such candidates shall be
| 5 |
| governed in each polling place by the same privileges and | 6 |
| limitations that
apply to pollwatchers as provided in this | 7 |
| Section. Any such candidate who
engages in an activity in a | 8 |
| polling place which could reasonably be
construed by a majority | 9 |
| of the judges of election as campaign activity
shall be removed | 10 |
| forthwith from such polling place.
| 11 |
| Candidates seeking office in a district or municipality | 12 |
| encompassing 2 or
more counties who desire to be admitted to | 13 |
| polling places on election day
in such district or municipality | 14 |
| shall be required to have proper
credentials. Such credentials | 15 |
| shall be printed in sufficient quantities,
shall be issued by | 16 |
| and under the facsimile signature of the
election authority of | 17 |
| the election jurisdiction where the polling place in
which the | 18 |
| candidate seeks admittance is located, and shall be available | 19 |
| for
distribution at least 2 weeks prior to the election. Such | 20 |
| credentials shall
be signed by the candidate.
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| Candidate credentials shall be in substantially the | 22 |
| following form:
| 23 |
| CANDIDATE CREDENTIALS
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| TO THE JUDGES OF ELECTION:
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| In accordance with the provisions of the Election Code, I |
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| ...... (name of
candidate) hereby certify that I am a candidate | 2 |
| for ....... (name of
office) and seek admittance to ....... | 3 |
| precinct of the ....... ward (if
applicable) of the ....... | 4 |
| (township or municipality) of ....... at the
....... election | 5 |
| to be held on (insert date).
| 6 |
| ......................... .......................
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| (Signature of Candidate) OFFICE FOR WHICH
| 8 |
| CANDIDATE SEEKS
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| NOMINATION OR
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| ELECTION
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| Pollwatchers shall be permitted to observe all proceedings | 12 |
| and view all reasonably requested records relating
to the | 13 |
| conduct of the election, provided the secrecy of the ballot is | 14 |
| not impinged, and to station themselves in a position
in the | 15 |
| voting room as will enable them to observe the judges making | 16 |
| the
signature comparison between the voter application and the | 17 |
| voter
registration record card; provided, however, that such | 18 |
| pollwatchers
shall not be permitted to station themselves in | 19 |
| such close proximity to
the judges of election so as to | 20 |
| interfere with the orderly conduct of
the election and shall | 21 |
| not, in any event, be permitted to handle
election materials. | 22 |
| Pollwatchers may challenge for cause the voting
qualifications | 23 |
| of a person offering to vote and may call to the
attention of | 24 |
| the judges of election any incorrect procedure or apparent
| 25 |
| violations of this Code.
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SB0299 Enrolled |
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| If a majority of the judges of election determine that the | 2 |
| polling
place has become too overcrowded with pollwatchers so | 3 |
| as to interfere
with the orderly conduct of the election, the | 4 |
| judges shall, by lot,
limit such pollwatchers to a reasonable | 5 |
| number, except that each
candidate and each established or new | 6 |
| political party shall be permitted
to have at least one | 7 |
| pollwatcher present.
| 8 |
| Representatives of an election authority, with regard to an | 9 |
| election
under its jurisdiction, the State Board of Elections, | 10 |
| and law
enforcement agencies, including but not limited to a | 11 |
| United States
Attorney, a State's attorney, the Attorney | 12 |
| General, and a State, county,
or local police department, in | 13 |
| the performance of their official
election duties, shall be | 14 |
| permitted at all times to enter and remain in
the polling | 15 |
| place. Upon entering the polling place, such
representatives | 16 |
| shall display their official credentials or other
| 17 |
| identification to the judges of election.
| 18 |
| Uniformed police officers assigned to polling place duty | 19 |
| shall follow
all lawful instructions of the judges of election.
| 20 |
| The provisions of this Section shall also apply to | 21 |
| supervised casting of
absentee ballots as provided in Section | 22 |
| 19-12.2 of this Act.
| 23 |
| (Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03; 94-645, eff. 8-22-05.)
| 24 |
| (10 ILCS 5/17-23) (from Ch. 46, par. 17-23)
| 25 |
| Sec. 17-23. Pollwatchers in a general election shall be |
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SB0299 Enrolled |
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LRB095 10800 JAM 31048 b |
|
| 1 |
| authorized in
the following manner:
| 2 |
| (1) Each established political party shall be entitled to | 3 |
| appoint
two pollwatchers per precinct. Such pollwatchers must | 4 |
| be affiliated
with the political party for which they are | 5 |
| pollwatching. For all
elections, the pollwatchers must be
| 6 |
| registered to vote in Illinois.
| 7 |
| (2) Each candidate shall be entitled to appoint two | 8 |
| pollwatchers per
precinct. For all elections, the pollwatchers | 9 |
| must be
registered to vote
in Illinois.
| 10 |
| (3) Each organization of citizens within the county or | 11 |
| political
subdivision, which has among its purposes or | 12 |
| interests the investigation
or prosecution of election frauds, | 13 |
| and which shall have registered its
name and address and the | 14 |
| name and addresses of its principal officers
with the proper | 15 |
| election authority at least 40 days before the election,
shall | 16 |
| be entitled to appoint one pollwatcher per precinct. For all
| 17 |
| elections, the pollwatcher must be registered to vote in
| 18 |
| Illinois.
| 19 |
| (3.5) Each State nonpartisan civic organization within the | 20 |
| county or political subdivision shall be entitled to appoint | 21 |
| one pollwatcher per precinct, provided that no more than 2 | 22 |
| pollwatchers appointed by State nonpartisan civic | 23 |
| organizations shall be present in a precinct polling place at | 24 |
| the same time. Each organization shall have registered the | 25 |
| names and addresses of its principal officers with the proper | 26 |
| election authority at least 40 days before the election. The |
|
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SB0299 Enrolled |
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LRB095 10800 JAM 31048 b |
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| 1 |
| pollwatchers must be registered to vote in Illinois. For the | 2 |
| purpose of this paragraph, a "State nonpartisan civic | 3 |
| organization" means any corporation, unincorporated | 4 |
| association, or organization that: | 5 |
| (i) as part of its written articles of incorporation, | 6 |
| bylaws, or charter or by separate written declaration, has | 7 |
| among its stated purposes the provision of voter | 8 |
| information and education, the protection of individual | 9 |
| voters' rights, and the promotion of free and equal | 10 |
| elections; | 11 |
| (ii) is organized or primarily conducts its activities | 12 |
| within the State of Illinois; and | 13 |
| (iii) continuously maintains an office or business | 14 |
| location within the State of Illinois, together with a | 15 |
| current listed telephone number (a post office box number | 16 |
| without a current listed telephone number is not | 17 |
| sufficient).
| 18 |
| (4) In any general election held to elect candidates for | 19 |
| the offices of
a municipality of less than 3,000,000 population | 20 |
| that is situated in 2 or
more counties, a pollwatcher who is a | 21 |
| resident of Illinois shall be eligible to serve as a
| 22 |
| pollwatcher in any poll located within such
municipality, | 23 |
| provided that such pollwatcher otherwise complies with the
| 24 |
| respective requirements of subsections (1) through (3) of this | 25 |
| Section and
is a registered voter in Illinois.
| 26 |
| (5) Each organized group of proponents or opponents of a |
|
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SB0299 Enrolled |
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LRB095 10800 JAM 31048 b |
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| 1 |
| ballot
proposition, which shall have registered the name and | 2 |
| address of its
organization or committee and the name and | 3 |
| address of its chairman with the
proper election authority at | 4 |
| least 40 days before the election, shall be
entitled to appoint | 5 |
| one pollwatcher per precinct. The pollwatcher
must be
| 6 |
| registered to vote in Illinois.
| 7 |
| All pollwatchers shall be required to have proper | 8 |
| credentials. Such
credentials shall be printed in sufficient | 9 |
| quantities, shall be issued
by and under the facsimile | 10 |
| signature(s) of the election authority and
shall be available | 11 |
| for distribution at least 2 weeks prior to the
election. Such | 12 |
| credentials shall be authorized by the real or facsimile
| 13 |
| signature of the State or local party official or the candidate | 14 |
| or the
presiding officer of the civic organization or the | 15 |
| chairman of the
proponent or opponent group, as the case may | 16 |
| be.
| 17 |
| Pollwatcher credentials shall be in substantially the | 18 |
| following form:
| 19 |
| POLLWATCHER CREDENTIALS
| 20 |
| TO THE JUDGES OF ELECTION:
| 21 |
| In accordance with the provisions of the Election
Code, the | 22 |
| undersigned hereby appoints .......... (name of pollwatcher)
| 23 |
| who resides at ........... (address) in the county
of | 24 |
| ..........., .......... (township or municipality)
of | 25 |
| ........... (name), State of Illinois and who is duly |
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SB0299 Enrolled |
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LRB095 10800 JAM 31048 b |
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| registered
to vote from this address, to act as a pollwatcher | 2 |
| in the
........... precinct of the ........... ward (if | 3 |
| applicable)
of the ........... (township or municipality) of | 4 |
| ........... at the
........... election to be held on (insert | 5 |
| date).
| 6 |
| ........................ (Signature of Appointing Authority)
| 7 |
| ......................... TITLE (party official, candidate,
| 8 |
| civic organization president,
| 9 |
| proponent or opponent group chairman)
| 10 |
| Under penalties provided by law pursuant to Section 29-10 | 11 |
| of the
Election Code, the undersigned pollwatcher certifies | 12 |
| that he or she resides
at ................ (address) in the | 13 |
| county of ............, .........
(township or municipality) | 14 |
| of ........... (name), State of Illinois, and is
duly | 15 |
| registered to vote in Illinois.
| 16 |
| .......................... .......................
| 17 |
| (Precinct and/or Ward in (Signature of Pollwatcher)
| 18 |
| Which Pollwatcher Resides)
| 19 |
| Pollwatchers must present their credentials to the Judges | 20 |
| of Election
upon entering the polling place. Pollwatcher | 21 |
| credentials properly
executed and signed shall be proof of the | 22 |
| qualifications of the
pollwatcher authorized thereby. Such | 23 |
| credentials are retained by the
Judges and returned to the | 24 |
| Election Authority at the end of the day of
election with the |
|
|
|
SB0299 Enrolled |
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LRB095 10800 JAM 31048 b |
|
| 1 |
| other election materials. Once a pollwatcher has
surrendered a | 2 |
| valid credential, he may leave and reenter the polling place
| 3 |
| provided that such continuing action does not disrupt the | 4 |
| conduct of the
election. Pollwatchers may be substituted during | 5 |
| the course of the day, but
established political parties, | 6 |
| candidates and qualified civic organizations
can have only as | 7 |
| many pollwatchers at any given time as are authorized in
this | 8 |
| Article. A substitute must present his signed credential to the
| 9 |
| judges of election upon entering the polling place. Election | 10 |
| authorities
must provide a sufficient number of credentials to | 11 |
| allow for substitution
of pollwatchers. After the polls have | 12 |
| closed pollwatchers shall be allowed
to remain until the | 13 |
| canvass of votes is completed; but may leave and
reenter only | 14 |
| in cases of necessity, provided that such action is not so
| 15 |
| continuous as to disrupt the canvass of votes.
| 16 |
| Candidates seeking office in a district or municipality | 17 |
| encompassing 2
or more counties shall be admitted to any and | 18 |
| all polling places throughout
such district or municipality | 19 |
| without regard to the counties in which such
candidates are | 20 |
| registered to vote. Actions of such candidates shall be
| 21 |
| governed in each polling place by the same privileges and | 22 |
| limitations that
apply to pollwatchers as provided in this | 23 |
| Section. Any such candidate who
engages in an activity in a | 24 |
| polling place which could reasonably be
construed by a majority | 25 |
| of the judges of election as campaign activity
shall be removed | 26 |
| forthwith from such polling place.
|
|
|
|
SB0299 Enrolled |
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LRB095 10800 JAM 31048 b |
|
| 1 |
| Candidates seeking office in a district or municipality | 2 |
| encompassing 2 or
more counties who desire to be admitted to | 3 |
| polling places on election day
in such district or municipality | 4 |
| shall be required to have proper
credentials. Such credentials | 5 |
| shall be printed in sufficient quantities,
shall be issued by | 6 |
| and under the facsimile signature of the
election authority of | 7 |
| the election jurisdiction where the polling place in
which the | 8 |
| candidate seeks admittance is located, and shall be available | 9 |
| for
distribution at least 2 weeks prior to the election. Such | 10 |
| credentials shall
be signed by the candidate.
| 11 |
| Candidate credentials shall be in substantially the | 12 |
| following form:
| 13 |
| CANDIDATE CREDENTIALS
| 14 |
| TO THE JUDGES OF ELECTION:
| 15 |
| In accordance with the provisions of the Election Code, I | 16 |
| ...... (name of
candidate) hereby certify that I am a candidate | 17 |
| for ....... (name of
office) and seek admittance to ....... | 18 |
| precinct of the ....... ward (if
applicable) of the ....... | 19 |
| (township or municipality) of ....... at the
....... election | 20 |
| to be held on (insert date).
| 21 |
| ......................... .......................
| 22 |
| (Signature of Candidate) OFFICE FOR WHICH
| 23 |
| CANDIDATE SEEKS
| 24 |
| NOMINATION OR
| 25 |
| ELECTION
|
|
|
|
SB0299 Enrolled |
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LRB095 10800 JAM 31048 b |
|
| 1 |
| Pollwatchers shall be permitted to observe all proceedings | 2 |
| and view all reasonably requested records relating
to the | 3 |
| conduct of the election, provided the secrecy of the ballot is | 4 |
| not impinged, and to station themselves in a position
in the | 5 |
| voting room as will enable them to observe the judges making | 6 |
| the
signature comparison between the voter application and the | 7 |
| voter
registration record card; provided, however, that such | 8 |
| pollwatchers
shall not be permitted to station themselves in | 9 |
| such close proximity to
the judges of election so as to | 10 |
| interfere with the orderly conduct of
the election and shall | 11 |
| not, in any event, be permitted to handle
election materials. | 12 |
| Pollwatchers may challenge for cause the voting
qualifications | 13 |
| of a person offering to vote and may call to the
attention of | 14 |
| the judges of election any incorrect procedure or apparent
| 15 |
| violations of this Code.
| 16 |
| If a majority of the judges of election determine that the | 17 |
| polling
place has become too overcrowded with pollwatchers so | 18 |
| as to interfere
with the orderly conduct of the election, the | 19 |
| judges shall, by lot,
limit such pollwatchers to a reasonable | 20 |
| number, except that each
established or new political party | 21 |
| shall be permitted to have at least
one pollwatcher present.
| 22 |
| Representatives of an election authority, with regard to an | 23 |
| election
under its jurisdiction, the State Board of Elections, | 24 |
| and law
enforcement agencies, including but not limited to a | 25 |
| United States
Attorney, a State's attorney, the Attorney |
|
|
|
SB0299 Enrolled |
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LRB095 10800 JAM 31048 b |
|
| 1 |
| General, and a State, county,
or local police department, in | 2 |
| the performance of their official
election duties, shall be | 3 |
| permitted at all times to enter and remain in
the polling | 4 |
| place. Upon entering the polling place, such
representatives | 5 |
| shall display their official credentials or other
| 6 |
| identification to the judges of election.
| 7 |
| Uniformed police officers assigned to polling place duty | 8 |
| shall follow
all lawful instructions of the judges of election.
| 9 |
| The provisions of this Section shall also apply to | 10 |
| supervised casting of
absentee ballots as provided in Section | 11 |
| 19-12.2 of this Act.
| 12 |
| (Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03; 94-645, eff. 8-22-05.)
| 13 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 14 |
| becoming law.
|
|