An Illinois Appellate Court upheld a decision by a board of election commissioners that school board candidates did not violate the Election Code’s prohibition on dual circulation in collecting signatures for an election involving non-partisan candidates. Sanchez v. Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
Objections were filed to the nominating petitions submitted by certain candidates running for elected school board positions in the upcoming November 2026 election. The objections claimed that the candidates had violated the “dual circulation” prohibition of the Election Code because circulators who collected signatures for the candidates had also circulated petitions for partisan candidates in the primary election in March of 2026. The objection was heard by the board of election commissioners which denied the objections. The objectors appealed to the circuit court which upheld the board’s decision and the case made its way to the Illinois Appellate Court.
The Appellate Court first examined the relevant statute, which states as follows:
[N]o person shall circulate or certify petitions for candidates of more than one political
party, or for an independent candidate or candidates in addition to one political party, to be
voted upon at the next primary or general election, or for such candidates and parties with
respect to the same political subdivision at the next consolidated election. 10 ILCS 5/10-
4.
The candidates argued that the dual circulation prohibition of this statute applies only to candidates of political parties and independents, but does not apply to nonpartisan candidates. Because the school board candidates were nonpartisan candidates, the candidates argued that the statute did not bar circulators who had previously circulated petitions for partisan candidates in the primary election. The Appellate Court agreed, finding that the clear language of the statute only applied to partisan and independent elections and the school board election was, by statute, nonpartisan. As a result, the petitions circulated by the challenged circulators were proper and the candidates were not barred from running for office.
