Chicago election law covers three distinct worlds: the rules that decide who can vote, the rules that decide who can appear on the ballot, and the rules that govern campaign money. The city runs its own elections through a Board of Election Commissioners separate from Cook County, and its municipal races for mayor, city clerk, city treasurer, and alderperson are nonpartisan. If no candidate clears 50% of the vote, the top two advance to a runoff. The next municipal election is set for February 23, 2027, with any runoff on April 6, 2027.1City of Chicago Board of Ethics. A Guide for Candidates to Elected Office of the City of Chicago
Who Can Vote in Chicago
You can register and vote in a Chicago election if you are a United States citizen, at least 18 years old by Election Day, and a resident of Illinois and your precinct for at least 30 days before the election.2Justia. Illinois Code 10 ILCS 5 – Article 3 Illinois uses permanent voter registration, so once you are on the rolls you stay on them unless you move, change your name, or get removed through routine list maintenance. Move within the city and you need to update your address before the next election.
Voting After a Felony Conviction
Illinois restores voting rights automatically the moment a person is released from the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections. No pardon or court order is required. People on probation or parole can vote, and so can people sitting in jail awaiting trial or sentencing. Only those currently serving a felony sentence in state custody are barred. After release, you have to re-register.
Language Access
Federal law requires the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to provide election materials and assistance in Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Hindi. All precincts citywide get bilingual Spanish and English materials, and targeted precincts also have bilingual election judges who speak Gujarati and Urdu.3U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Language Assistance in the City of Chicago
Three Ways to Cast a Ballot
Chicago voters have three options: vote by mail, vote early, or vote in person on Election Day. Each has its own clock.
- Vote by mail. Applications open about 90 days before Election Day. You can request a ballot online, by mail, or in person at the Board of Election Commissioners office. A completed ballot must be postmarked by Election Day and received within a statutory window after.
- Early voting. Early voting starts at the Board’s downtown office and a supersite several weeks before Election Day, then expands to all 50 wards in the final weeks. Any Chicago voter can use any early voting site in the city regardless of ward.
- Election Day. Polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at your assigned precinct. If you are in line when polls close, you have the right to vote.
Exact dates shift each cycle, so check the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners site for the current calendar as any election approaches.
Who Qualifies to Run for Office
Every candidate for an elected Chicago position must be a registered voter in the city and must have lived inside city limits for at least one full year before the election. Alderperson candidates face the same one-year rule, but it applies to the specific ward they want to represent.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-5 – Qualifications, Elective Office
Two further bars can stop someone from taking office. Anyone who owes back taxes or other debts to the city cannot be sworn in; the municipal clerk must give the official 30 days to pay or contest the debt before the seat is vacated.5Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-50 – Events Upon Which an Elective Office Becomes Vacant A conviction for a felony, bribery, or perjury also disqualifies a person from holding office. That bar is not necessarily permanent. The governor can issue a pardon or a restoration of rights that specifically includes eligibility for elected municipal office, and the person can petition at any time after conviction.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-5 – Qualifications, Elective Office
Getting on the Ballot
Ballot access runs through a nomination packet, and errors anywhere in that packet can knock a candidate off the ballot. Most serious campaigns hire an election attorney to review the paperwork before filing.
Statement of Candidacy and Economic Interests
Every candidate files a Statement of Candidacy, a sworn form that lists your name, address, the office sought, and a declaration that you are legally qualified.6Illinois State Board of Elections. Statement of Candidacy Form P-1 Candidates also file a Statement of Economic Interests under the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act, disclosing financial holdings and potential conflicts.7Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 5 ILCS 420 – Illinois Governmental Ethics Act, Article 4A A loyalty oath appears on the candidate forms, but federal courts struck it down on free-speech grounds, and signing it is optional.
Petition Signatures
Candidates for mayor, city clerk, and city treasurer need at least 12,500 valid signatures from registered Chicago voters. Alderperson candidates need far fewer; the 2023 cycle required a minimum of 473 signatures from voters registered in the candidate’s ward.8Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. 2023 Municipal, Alderperson, and District Council Elections Quick Reference Guide The ward-level minimum shifts cycle to cycle because it is tied to turnout in the preceding election. There is no maximum, and experienced campaigns collect well above the floor as a buffer against signatures that get thrown out in challenges.
Signatures can only be gathered during a window that ends on the petition filing deadline, and Illinois law prohibits circulating petitions more than 90 days before that deadline. Each petition sheet must carry a circulator’s statement at the bottom, signed by the person who gathered those signatures, certifying that they personally witnessed each signature and that the signers were registered voters. The statement must be sworn before a notary or other officer authorized to administer oaths.9Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 10 ILCS 5 – Election Code, Article 10 A missing or defective circulator statement can invalidate every signature on the sheet.
Where and When to File
Nomination packets are filed in person at the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, 69 W. Washington Street, during a window set by the election calendar.10Chicago Election Board. Resources for Candidates Who Plan to Run in Chicago Illinois sets ballot order by order of filing, so first in gets the top spot. When several candidates arrive at opening time on the first day, a lottery breaks the tie.11City of Highwood. Illinois State Board of Elections Lottery Procedures
Objections and Withdrawal
After filing closes, any registered voter has five business days to file a formal objection to a candidate’s nomination papers.12Justia. Illinois Code 10 ILCS 5 – Article 7, The Making of Nominations by Political Parties Objections usually attack the validity of individual signatures, the accuracy of a residency affidavit, or defects in a circulator statement. An electoral board holds an administrative hearing and can remove a candidate from the ballot if the papers fail to meet statutory requirements. These hearings get contentious, and challenged candidates almost always need an attorney.
A candidate who wants out after filing can submit a written withdrawal of candidacy to the election authority. Illinois sets a deadline for withdrawal that varies by election type. Miss it and your name stays on the ballot whether you are campaigning or not.
Campaign Money Rules
Illinois regulates campaign finance through the Campaign Disclosure Act, enforced by the State Board of Elections.13Illinois State Board of Elections. Campaign Disclosure A candidate must form a political committee once contributions received or expenditures made exceed $5,000 in any 12-month period.14Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 10 ILCS 5/9-1.8 – Political Committees The committee files a Statement of Organization with the State Board, then files periodic disclosure reports covering contributions and expenditures. Large contributions of $1,000 or more trigger a separate report that must be filed promptly.
Contribution limits are adjusted for inflation. As of 2025, an individual donor can give up to $7,300 per election cycle to a candidate committee, and corporations and labor unions can give up to $14,600.13Illinois State Board of Elections. Campaign Disclosure Those caps can be lifted entirely if a candidate self-funds beyond a statutory threshold, a mechanism that has reshaped several recent Chicago races. Political action committees operate under their own limits, and current figures are published on the State Board of Elections website.
Late-Filing Penalties
The State Board does not treat late filings as paperwork hiccups. A late quarterly disclosure report can draw a civil penalty of up to $5,000. Late reports for large contributions are penalized per contribution, with fines ranging from 10% to 150% of the reported amount depending on how late the filing is. For a committee’s first violation, the Board stays the fine unless the committee files late again, at which point penalties for both violations come due.15Illinois State Board of Elections. Civil Penalty Assessments
After the Vote: Recounts and Contests
Once polls close, the Board canvasses results and certifies winners. A losing candidate who finished close can petition for a discovery recount, but only if they received at least 95% as many votes as the winner. The petition must be filed within five days of the canvass and can cover up to 25% of the precincts in the jurisdiction, at $50 per precinct.16Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 10 ILCS 5/22-9.1 – Discovery Recount A discovery recount does not change the result on its own. It gives the petitioner evidence to use in a separate court proceeding called an election contest. Overturning a Chicago election therefore takes two steps, which is why contested results are rare even in competitive races.