With
municipalities across Illinois set to elect new local officers at the 2025
Consolidated Elections, an overview of the lesser-known nomination method of
municipal caucuses may be helpful for smaller municipalities. Note that the overview discussed below applies to official caucus nomination methods established by statute, and not the informal “caucus” political party nomination process that is used in some municipalities. If you are not sure which system your municipality must follow, please consult with your legal counsel.
Illinois
municipalities administer either partisan elections (where candidates are
nominated and elected from political parties) or nonpartisan elections (where
candidates are nominated and elected on a nonpartisan basis). For cities,
villages, and incorporated towns with partisan election systems and populations
below 5,000 persons, candidates are nominated by established political parties
at municipal caucuses unless, on or before November 15, 2024, the municipality
passes an ordinance requiring established political parties to hold a primary. These municipalities will hold their caucuses
on December 2, 2024, and caucus candidates must file their certificates of
nomination with the municipal clerk during the filing period of December 9 –
16, 2024. 10 ILCS 5/10-1(a). Clerks must certify the names of caucus
candidates by no later than January 23, 2025.
At
a municipal caucus, registered voters select candidates from their political
party to nominate for offices up for election in the April consolidated
election. Voters can only participate and cast votes at the caucus of one
political party (for example a person who participates in the caucus of
political party A cannot then participate in the caucus of political party B).
An established political party may only nominate one candidate for an office to
be elected by the caucus method. The candidate receiving the most votes at the
caucus becomes the party’s nominee, and any candidate defeated at the caucus
may not run for the same office as a different political party, independent, or
write-in candidate.
After
being nominated at a caucus, the candidates must then individually file
nomination paperwork with the local election official to appear on the
consolidated election ballot. If there are two or more political parties that
have nominated candidates for an office, the local election official must hold
a ballot placement lottery to determine the ballot order. Candidates nominated
by caucus appear on the ballot in the same order as their names appeared on the
caucus sheet.
If
a caucus will occur, November 22, 2024, is the last day for the municipal
clerk to publish or post the notice of caucus. In municipalities with populations over 500 persons, the local election
official must publish notice of caucuses in a newspaper published within their
municipality. If no such newspaper exists, a local election official is
required to publish notice of a caucus in a newspaper of general circulation
within the county their municipality is located in. For municipalities with a
population of 500 or less, the local election official must post notice of
the caucus in three of the most public places within the municipality.
Post Authored by Keri-Lyn Krafthefer & Tyler Smith, Ancel Glink