Opinion ID: 2015681
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Residency Requirements

Text: Section 7-10 of the Election Code mandates that a nomination petition for the office of precinct committeeman must be filed on behalf of each candidate. 10 ILCS 5/7-10 (West 1994). It also requires that each petition must include a sworn statement of candidacy which shall set out the address of such candidate. 10 ILCS 5/7-10 (West 1994). The petition must further state that the candidate    is qualified for the office specified. 10 ILCS 5/7-10 (West 1994). In order to be qualified for this particular office, the Code elsewhere provides that [e]ach candidate for precinct committeeman must be a bona fide resident of the precinct where he seeks to be elected. 10 ILCS 5/7-8(b) (West 1994). The purpose of these and similar provisions is to ensure an orderly procedure in which only the names of qualified persons are placed on the ballot. Lewis v. Dunne, 63 Ill.2d 48, 344 N.E.2d 443 (1976). Elections are quintessentially political in nature, and disputes are not uncommon. With that in mind, the General Assembly saw fit to establish an expedient, pre-election mechanism for resolving any disputes relating to a candidate's nomination papers. Beginning with section 10-8, the Code requires all objections to a candidate's nomination papers to be filed no later than five business days after the last day for the filing of nomination papers in general. 10 ILCS 5/10-8 (West 1994). The provision also indicates that the nomination papers will be deemed to be valid in the absence of a timely objection. 10 ILCS 5/10-8 (West 1994). Section 10-8 states: Certificates of nomination and nomination papers    being filed as required by this Code, and being in apparent conformity with the provisions of this Act, shall be deemed to be valid unless objection thereto is duly made in writing within 5 business days after the last day for filing the certificate of nomination or nomination papers   . 10 ILCS 5/10-8 (West 1994). The Code further creates various electoral boards to resolve the disputes (10 ILCS 5/10-9 (West 1994)), grants those same boards the power to administer oaths, issue subpoenas and examine witnesses (10 ILCS 5/10-10 (West 1994)), and provides a party with judicial review (10 ILCS 5/10-10.1 (West 1994)). The failure to utilize these procedures will result in a waiver of the objection. See generally Swiney v. Peden, 306 Ill. 131, 137 N.E. 405 (1922). It is undisputed that in this case Geer did not file an objection with the appropriate electoral board until the day after the election. By that time Kadera's nomination papers were already deemed valid by operation of section 10-8, and the board no longer possessed any statutory authority to entertain Geer's objection. Moreover, Geer could not resuscitate his objection in the circuit court of Lake County under the guise of an election contest. A circuit court does not have original jurisdiction over objections to nomination papers. Dilcher v. Schorik, 207 Ill. 528, 69 N.E. 807 (1904). Indeed, the granting of judicial review under section 10-10.1 of the Code was never intended to vest the circuit courts with jurisdiction to conduct a de novo hearing into the validity of a candidate's nomination papers. Williams v. Butler, 35 Ill.App.3d 532, 341 N.E.2d 394 (1976); Wiseman v. Elward, 5 Ill.App.3d 249, 283 N.E.2d 282 (1972). It is the electoral board, and not the courts, which have been vested with original jurisdiction to hear such disputes. Swiney v. Peden, 306 Ill. 131, 137 N.E. 405 (1922); People ex rel. Klingelmueller v. Haas, 111 Ill.App.3d 88, 66 Ill.Dec. 856, 443 N.E.2d 782 (1982). This conclusion is supported by Dilcher v. Schorik, 207 Ill. 528, 69 N.E. 807 (1904). In that case, the petitioner filed a statutory election contest in the circuit court of Cook County challenging his opponent's election as town constable. The petition did not contest the appellee's election per se, but only the regularity of his nomination and his eligibility to hold office. With respect to the latter issue, the appellant claimed that his opponent was ineligible because he did not reside within the town limits for a period of one year prior to the day of the election. Citing section 10 of the Ballot Lawwhich provides that certificates of nomination and nomination papers shall be deemed valid if not objected tothis court affirmed the order of the circuit court dismissing the action. This court concluded that the circuit court did not have jurisdiction over the validity of the nomination papers, a question properly reserved for the appropriate election authority. Dilcher, 207 Ill. at 529, 69 N.E. 807; see also Swiney v. Peden, 306 Ill. 131, 137 N.E. 405 (1922) (holding that a failure to file objection to nomination papers before board waives objection which cannot be raised again in election contest). This court reached its decision in Dilcher even though the Ballot Law at that time did not provide for any judicial review. Our holding that the circuit court does not have subject matter jurisdiction to conduct a de novo hearing into any controversies concerning irregularities in a candidate's nomination papers has been made easier by the 1967 amendments to the Code. Under the amendments, the circuit courts were expressly granted only limited jurisdiction to review decisions of the electoral board. 10 ILCS 5/10-10.1 (West 1994). Thus, by legislative fiat, a court's inquiry into discrepancies in nomination papers is limited to a review of the board's record. Wiseman v. Elward, 5 Ill.App.3d 249, 283 N.E.2d 282 (1972). In this case, we see no reason to depart from this court's prior holdings in Dilcher and Swiney. Compliance with the dispute resolution procedures contained in article 10 of the Code is essential to an orderly pre-election process. Prompt resolution ensures that ample time remains for the preparation of ballots listing only the names of qualified candidates. As explained in Thurston v. State Board of Elections, 76 Ill.2d 385, 389, 30 Ill.Dec. 304, 392 N.E.2d 1349 (1979), [i]t is vitally important that nomination objections be resolved at the earliest possible time. That is one of the primary reasons why the legislature created the various electoral boards and vested them, and not the courts, with original jurisdiction over issues pertaining to nomination papers. It would be wholly improper, therefore, for this or any other court to undertake its own fact-finding mission under the circumstances presented here. We conclude, as this court has in the past, that a person once elected cannot be removed from office vis-a-vis a statutory election contest merely because of a deficiency in his or her nomination papers. Objections to certificates of nomination and nomination papers are, in effect, dissolved by the general election. Thurston, 76 Ill.2d at 389, 30 Ill. Dec. 304, 392 N.E.2d 1349 (citing Welsh v. Shumway, 232 Ill. 54, 83 N.E. 549 (1907), Schuler v. Hogan, 168 Ill. 369, 48 N.E. 195 (1897), and People ex rel. Elder v. Quilici, 309 Ill.App. 466, 33 N.E.2d 492 (1941)). We caution that our holding not be expanded beyond the facts presented for our review. We determine only that the failure to file a timely, pre-election objection to a candidate's nomination papers results in those papers being deemed valid by virtue of section 10-8 (10 ILCS 5/10-8 (West 1994)). A person cannot thereafter revive such an objection in the circuit court by means of an election contest. However, because a person's nomination papers may be deemed valid does not mean that person automatically becomes eligible to hold a particular office. Unlike a candidate's nomination papers, a person's eligibility to hold office may be challenged at any time during the term of that office. Indeed, an objection which relates to a person's eligibility, such as a residency requirement, may be presented for judicial review under appropriate circumstances. Greenwood v. Murphy, 131 Ill. 604, 23 N.E. 421 (1890) ( quo warranto); Dilcher v. Schorik, 207 Ill. 528, 69 N.E. 807 (1904); Edgcomb v. Wylie, 248 Ill. 602, 94 N.E. 107 (1911); Swiney v. Peden, 306 Ill. 131, 137 N.E. 405 (1922); Wagler v. Stoecker, 393 Ill. 560, 66 N.E.2d 408 (1946); see also People ex rel. Henderson v. Redfern, 48 Ill.App.2d 100, 197 N.E.2d 841 (1964); Breslin v. Warren, 45 Ill.App.3d 450, 4 Ill.Dec. 161, 359 N.E.2d 1113 (1977); City of Highwood v. Obenberger, 238 Ill.App.3d 1066, 179 Ill.Dec. 65, 605 N.E.2d 1079 (1992). Today's decision leaves undisturbed that body of law which permits such post-election challenges to a person's right to hold office. [3] Accordingly, because Geer did not file an objection before the appropriate electoral board within the time limits set forth in the Code (10 ILCS 5/10-8 (West 1994)), we affirm that portion of the circuit court's order dismissing Geer's statutory election contest as it relates to Kadera's nomination papers.