HB0040 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 03528 AWJ 48534 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB0040

Introduced 1/12/2023, by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

65 ILCS 20/21-24.5 new

Amends the Revised Cities and Villages Act of 1941. Establishes a procedure for a special recall election to recall the Mayor of Chicago and the election of a successor mayor at a special successor election or special runoff election. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning local government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Revised Cities and Villages Act of 1941 is amended by adding Section 21-24.5 as follows:

(65 ILCS 20/21-24.5 new)

Sec. 21-24.5. Recall election; Mayor of Chicago.

(a) The recall of the Mayor of Chicago may be proposed by a petition signed by a number of electors equal in number to at least 15% of the total votes cast for Mayor in the preceding election at which the Mayor was elected, with at least 50 signatures from each ward. A petition must be signed by the petitioning electors not more than 150 days after an affidavit has been filed with the board of election commissioners providing notice of intent to circulate a petition to recall the Mayor. The affidavit may be filed no sooner than 6 months after the beginning of the Mayor's term of office. The affidavit must be signed by the proponent of the recall petition and at least 2 aldermen.

(b) The form of the petition, circulation, and procedure for determining the validity and sufficiency of a petition shall be as provided by law. If the petition is valid and sufficient, the board of election commissioners shall certify the petition not more than 100 days after the date the petition was filed, and the question "Shall (name) be recalled from the office of Mayor?" must be submitted to the electors at a special recall election called by the board of election commissioners and to occur not more than 100 days after certification of the petition. A recall petition certified by the board of election commissioners may not be withdrawn. If a recall petition has been certified by the board of election commissioners, then another recall petition may not be initiated against the Mayor during the remainder of the current term of office of the Mayor. Any recall petition or recall election pending on the date of the next election at which a candidate for Mayor is elected is void.

The Mayor is immediately removed upon certification of the special recall election results if a majority of the electors voting on the question vote to recall the Mayor. If the Mayor is removed, then (i) the Vice Mayor shall serve as Mayor until the Mayor elected at the special successor election or special runoff election is qualified and (ii) the candidate who receives a majority of votes under subsection (c) in the special successor election or the candidate who receives the highest number of votes in the special runoff election is elected Mayor for the balance of the term.

(c) If a petition to recall the Mayor has been filed with the board of election commissioners, a person eligible to serve as Mayor may propose his or her candidacy for the special successor election by a successor candidate petition signed by at least 12,500 legal voters of the City, not more than 50 days after a recall petition has been filed with the board of election commissioners. All successor candidate petitions and procedure with respect to the petitions shall conform in other respects to the provisions of the election and ballot laws then in force in the City of Chicago concerning the nomination of independent candidates for public office by petition. If the successor candidate petition is valid and sufficient, the board of election commissioners shall certify the petition not more than 100 days after the date the petition to recall the Mayor was filed.

If the Mayor is removed by the special recall election under subsection (b), the names of candidates for Mayor whose successor candidate petitions were certified by the board of election commissions must be submitted to the electors at a special successor election called by the board of election commissioners to be held 60 days after the special recall election. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the special successor election, a special runoff election shall be held no later than 60 days after the special successor election, and only the names of the candidates receiving the highest and second highest number of votes at the special successor election shall appear on the ballot.

If more than one candidate received the highest or second highest number of votes at the special successor election, the names of all candidates receiving the highest and second highest number of votes shall appear on the ballot at the special runoff election. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes at the special runoff election shall be declared elected.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.