Being mayor of Chicago may be a tough job, but becoming mayor of Chicago is almost tougher.
To run for the office, one must first collect at least 25,000 valid signatures of registered voters who live within the city limits to demonstrate ballot-worthiness. Compare that to the number of John Hancocks needed to run for governor in Illinois: 5,000.
Or the U.S. Senate: 5,500.
Or Congress: 600.
New York City mayor? 7,500.
Los Angeles mayor: 1,000.
Petition signatures are the kind collected by intrepid friends and ward loyalists who stand outside busy supermarkets on Saturday afternoons. In Chicago and Cook County, political opponents make Olympic sport out of scouring those signatures, pouncing on the “Mickey Mouses,” unregistered voters and residents whose addresses can’t be verified. The aim is to knock candidates off the ballot before the campaign heats up by invalidating as many signatures as possible.
Thus the resulting rule of thumb: If the law says you need 25,000 signatures, get 50,000.
That’s easy for an incumbent who can call on the vast resources of ward organizations. Not so easy for everyone else.
“Chicago has the highest signature requirement to run for mayor [of] any city in the nation,” says Bruce Crosby, who heads a group called the Committee to Preserve Voting Rights. “It’s extremely unfair.”
He’s right. Because the Chicago Board of Elections won’t do something about it, Crosby’s group turned to the state legislature to rectify the problem.
A bill that would cut the number of required signatures in half, to 12,500, awaits Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s signature. He is expected to do so next week.
As if the 25,000 signature rule for mayor weren’t ludicrous enough, it also takes that many signatures to run for city clerk and treasurer–possibly the two dullest jobs in city government. Quick! Name the current clerk and treasurer of Chicago. Get the point?
William Walls III, an aide to the late Mayor Harold Washington, filed 38,000 petition signatures in 2003 when he tried to run for city clerk. But he was knocked off the ballot because he had only 16,000 valid signatures. 16,000!
The new law will reduce the signature requirements for clerk and treasurer to 12,500.
Voters should have a reasonable opportunity to choose their elected officials, without hurdles that protect incumbents. With an effortless stroke of the pen, the governor can enhance that opportunity.
