The Illinois General Assembly voted last month to extend the filing deadline for local candidates to December 26, 2012 for the April 9, 2013 Consolidated Election. The original deadline had been December 24, a holiday for many local election authorities including the Evanston City Clerk’s office.
Under the change, local election officials now have until December 26 to accept candidates’ petitions or certificates of nomination. This law will provide relief to municipal clerks, school board secretaries, township clerks, park district and library secretaries and other local election officials who were previously required to accept candidate petitions until 5:00 p.m. on December 24, regardless of whether their respective governmental offices were open or not.
Evanston City Clerk Rodney Greene reminds candidates for Evanston City Council and Township offices that the first opportunity for filing petitions and other candidate-related documents is 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, December 17, 2012. The last day to file candidate-related materials with the City Clerk is at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 26, 2012. There will be no exceptions; if a candidate is not inside the Clerk’s Office when the doors close, they will not be allowed to file or appear on the April 9 ballot.
Questions regarding local elections for Evanston City Council and Evanston Township offices can be directed to Evanston City Clerk Rodney Greene by calling 3-1-1 or emailing rgreene@cityofevanston.org.