Eye On Illinois: With 2024 unaffected, will new post-primary ballot law face a different challenge?

Now what?

On Friday, Illinois Supreme Court and Board of Elections action ensured Democrats’ attempt to change ballot access rules during an election cycle won’t actually take effect in 2024.

“Democrats introduced the bill in May, then passed it and sent it to the governor for a signature within 48 hours,” according to a Capitol News Illinois summary, which explained Senate Bill 2412 bans “political parties from waiting until after the primary election to place a state legislative candidate on the general election ballot … [it] still allows parties to replace withdrawals but prevents slating in cases where the party didn’t run anyone in the primary.”

Legal challenges followed moments after Gov. JB Pritzker signed the bill, focusing more on the timetable than the change itself. On May 25, I wrote “It seems inconceivable lawmakers would be allowed to change rules six weeks after a primary and a month before the deadline for slating majority party candidates,” and that commonsense threshold turned out to be more or less what produced the end result. For now.

The Supreme Court essentially took a hands-off approach. Democratic Justices P. Scott Neville and Joy Cunningham recused themselves from the matter. The remaining five justices couldn’t reach a 4-1 or 5-0 decision. (Cunningham is on the ballot this fall, unopposed in the First District, as is GOP Justice Lisa Holder White, unopposed in the Fourth.)

The result is the June ruling of Sangamon County Judge Gail Noll stands: the law is blocked for 2024. Earlier the same day, elections board members preserved the ballot eligibility of Republican Jay Keeven, who “filed his nomination papers in an accordance with the law in effect at the time,” according to the board – before Pritzker signed the bill.

But the Supreme Court action doesn’t set precedent, and the elections board will only ever find itself in a similar situation if the matter remains unresolved until 2026. Which brings up the “now what” question: Will anyone sue to overturn the change?

It seems unlikely. Some suggest Democrats are hypocrites because the current presidential nominee wasn’t on the March primary ballot. The counterpoint is the law specifically addresses primaries where one party didn’t run a candidate. In Illinois, Democrats had four presidential primary candidates. Both parties change candidates midstream, so it’s hard to say a law clarifying those guidelines is unconstitutional so long as it’s not applied retroactively.

As with many laws, the General Assembly clearly sidestepped its “three readings” rule to enact SB 2412, but the Supreme Court consistently endorses the “enrolled bill doctrine,” forcing judges to defer to legislative leaders’ attestation of fair play.

Despite repeated complaints from appellate courts, the doctrine is safe until lawmakers choose to police themselves.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.