Court Opinion

ID: 9712853
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:01:37.112311+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:14.869917
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE GILLERAN JOHNSON, specially concurring: I agree with the majority that Marquez’s nominating papers do not substantially comply with section 7 — 10 of the Election Code (10 ILCS 5/7 — 10 (West 2002)), which requires that a candidate’s nominating papers state the office that the candidate seeks. Thus, I agree that the judgments of the circuit court of Kane County and Municipal Officers Electoral Board of the City of Aurora must be reversed. However, I write separately to distinguish Heabler v. Municipal Officers Electoral Board, 338 Ill. App. 3d 1059 (2003), because my position in that case may seem at odds with my position in the present case. In Heabler, the candidate indicated on both his statement of candidacy and his nominating petitions that he was seeking the office of trustee. Heabler, 338 Ill. App. 3d at 1060. Although the candidate did not indicate the length of the term he was seeking, I do not believe that this omission confused any of the voters or members of the electoral board. Because the Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS 5/3.1— 25 — 5 (West 2002)) defines the office of trustee as a four-year position, it should have been clear that the candidate was seeking a four-year term. However, in this case, Marquez failed to indicate in his nominating petitions the office he was seeking. Because his nominating petitions failed to include this information, the voters signing his petitions could have been completely unaware of what office Marquez sought. Indeed, the voters could have believed that he was running for any one of the offices up for election within the City of Aurora, including mayor or alderman at large. Marquez’s nominating petitions were a basis for potential confusion among the voters, and as such, his nominating papers did not substantially comply with section 7 — 10 of the Election Code. In sum, Heabler is distinguishable from the present case.