http://pantagraph.com/articles/2006/06/18/opinion/114788.txt
Sunday, June 18, 2006 12:39 AM CDT
Laws favor Illinois' two-party stranglehold
Pantagraph Editorial
We share the frustration with those who think
Illinois' election laws
protect the two major parties and make it difficult
for outsiders to be
part of the democratic process.
If you want to run as an "independent" statewide you
have to obtain five
times as many signatures of qualified voters as
Republicans or
Democrats. The "established party candidates" must
submit at least 5,000
signatures. Independent candidates must submit
25,000 signatures, or 1
percent of the number of voters in the last
statewide general election,
whichever is less.
If you want to run for state representative or
senator, the disparity
continues. For a Senate run you must have 1,000
signatures or 1 percent
of the vote in the district's last Senate race if
you are a Republican
or Democrat. Running for representative is easier.
The requirements are
500 signatures or 1 percent.
For an independent, the requirement for a Senate or
House seat is a
minimum of 10 percent of the vote in the last race
within that district.
Getting on a ballot shouldn't be so easy as to
invite frivolous
candidates. Nor should it be so difficult that
people have to spend a
lot of time collecting signatures when they could be
discussing issues
with voters.
We don't know what a "better" number would be, but
we're hoping a
federal appeals court's review of a lawsuit by David
Lee of Heyworth
might lead to discussion of more reasonable
requirements. Lee, who
abandoned an independent bid for the 44th District
state Senate seat two
years ago, has sued the Illinois State Board of
Elections saying its
rules discourage independent candidates from seeking
office.
The rules do discourage such candidates. But it's
not the State Board of
Elections' rules. The bipartisan board's job is to
make sure election
laws are followed. It is the Legislature that writes
and approves the
laws.
But don't expect any help from legislators who want
to preserve their
two-party system. There is only one official
"Independent" senator -
Sen. James Meeks of Chicago - and none in the House.
And Meeks is
seeking re-election on the Democratic ticket this
year.
There are times when Illinois could use a viable
independent candidate
to at least force the established parties to address
issues instead of
making personal attacks or feeding voters almost
daily doses of PR.
We could use more Ross Perot-type candidates. Perot
was the spoiler in
the 1992 presidential election. At one time, polls
had him atop both
George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, but he withdrew
about four months
before the election and then re-entered weeks later.
That brief hiatus
killed his already slim chances. But he still wound
up with 18.9 percent
of the popular vote. Clinton had 43 percent and Bush
had 37.4 percent.
During the time Perot was campaigning, he forced
Bush and Clinton to
talk about the faltering economy. Some said Perot
was a one-trick pony
with sole emphasis on the economy. We need that type
of burr in the
saddle at both the state and federal levels today.
Lawmakers constantly
talk about the economy, but their actions aren't
helping it.
Senator Meeks showed how much one person can change
things. The mere
threat of Meeks running for governor got Gov. Rod
Blagojevich to agree
with him that more money was needed for education.
The governor proposed
a hastily-assembled education package that has been
criticized around
the state but hasn't been voted on by the
Legislature.
Unlike Perot, Meeks didn't have to challenge the
Blagojevich
adminstration's questionable finances. It was
obvious to Blagojevich
that Meeks, who is black and pastor of the state's
largest church with
22,000 members, could have pulled a lot of votes
from the Chicago
community, a Blagojevich stronghold. That split
could have been a
tremendous benefit to Judy Baar Topinka, Illinois
state treasurer and
Republican gubernatorial candidate.
Allowing equal access to the ballot won't come
without citizen pressure
on Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate
to level the
playing field.
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