On May 25, the Illinois legislature passed HB 4488, which moves the petition deadline for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties from late June to late May. Furthermore, it shrinks the petitioning period from three months to two months.
The bill had been introduced early this year on the subject of Crohns and Colitis Awareness, health concerns that do not relate to election law. But on May 23, the Senate deleted all the original contents of the bill and substituted various election law provisions, including the ballot access restrictions. It passed the Senate in its new version on May 24, and passed the House again on May 25. It was sent to Governor J. B. Pritzker on June 6. The news media has not reported on the bill’s ballot access restrictions. The bill does not take effect until 2025.
Assuming it is signed into law, there is a good probability that it will be held unconstitutional. Petition deadlines for presidential candidates running in the general election are unconstitutional if they are that early. June petition deadlines have been overturned in Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Nevada, and South Dakota. May petition deadlines have been overturned in Idaho, and Massachusetts.