Judge tosses out Illinois ban on drafting legislative candidates as ‘restriction on right to vote’

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A judge on Wednesday rejected a law Illinois Democrats adopted last month that prohibits political parties from drafting candidates when no one was on the party primary ballot.

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Gail Noll ruled the law, drawn to protect vulnerable Democrats in November’s general election, is unconstitutional. It improperly interferes with a person’s right to see access to the ballot and that, Noll wrote, “places a severe restriction on the fundamental right to vote.”

“Plaintiffs have a clearly ascertainable right to be free from unconstitutional restriction on their right to vote which under the circumstances of this case includes their right to ballot access,” Noll’s opinion said.

Previously, someone who wasn’t on the primary ballot — this year, March 19 — could still run in November after getting the nod from party leaders and collecting the requisite number of valid petition signatures by the June 3 deadline set by the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Several of those Republican candidates filed the lawsuit. The elections board has continued to accept nominating petitions.

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