Chicago election law governs how the city runs its nonpartisan municipal races for mayor, city clerk, city treasurer, and alderperson, and it is administered by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, separate from the Cook County system that handles suburban contests. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers advance to a runoff. The next municipal election is scheduled for February 23, 2027, with any runoff set for 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
To cast a ballot in a Chicago election, you must be a United States citizen, at least 18 years old by Election Day, and a resident of both Illinois and your precinct for at least 30 days before the election.2Justia. Illinois Code 10 ILCS 5 – Article 3 Chicago uses permanent voter registration. Once you register, your status stays active unless you move, change your name, or are removed through routine list maintenance. Move within the city and you will need to update your address before the next election.
Voting After a Felony Conviction
Illinois automatically restores voting rights the moment a person is released from the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections. No pardon or court order is needed. People on probation or parole can vote. So can people held in jail awaiting trial or sentencing, since they have not been convicted. 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. Every precinct citywide gets bilingual Spanish and English materials. In targeted precincts, the Board also deploys 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, each with its own timeline.
- Vote by mail. Applications open roughly 90 days before Election Day. You can request a ballot online, by mail, or in person at the Board’s office. Completed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received within a statutory window after the election.
- Early voting. Early voting typically starts at the Board’s downtown office and a supersite location several weeks out, 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 with each cycle. Check the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners website closer to any election.
Who Can Run for Office
Every candidate for an elected Chicago position must be a registered voter in the city and must have lived within city limits for at least one full year before the election. Alderperson candidates face the same one-year residency requirement, 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 additional bars can block someone from taking office. First, anyone who owes back taxes or other debts to the city is ineligible to be sworn in. The municipal clerk must notify the official and give them 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 Second, a conviction for a felony, bribery, or perjury disqualifies a person from holding office. The disqualification 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 convicted person can petition for that restoration at any time after the conviction.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-5 – Qualifications, Elective Office
Getting on the Ballot
Ballot access in Chicago requires assembling a packet of legal documents and collecting verified voter signatures. Errors in any piece can knock a candidate off the ballot entirely, which is why most serious candidates hire an election attorney to review the packet before filing.
Statement of Candidacy and Economic Interests
Every candidate files a Statement of Candidacy, a sworn form listing your name, address, the office you are seeking, and a declaration that you are legally qualified to hold that office.6Illinois State Board of Elections. Statement of Candidacy Form P-1 Candidates must 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 Illinois law includes a loyalty oath on candidate forms, but federal courts struck it down on free-speech grounds, so signing it is optional.
Petition Signatures
Candidates for mayor, city clerk, and city treasurer need a minimum of 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 from cycle to cycle because it is tied to voter turnout in the preceding election. There is no maximum, and experienced campaigns collect well above the minimum as a buffer against signatures thrown out during challenges.
Signatures can only be gathered inside a window that ends on the petition filing deadline. 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 collected those signatures, certifying that they personally witnessed each signature and that the signers were registered voters. That 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.
Filing and Objections
Completed nomination packets are filed in person at the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners during a specific window set by the election calendar.10Chicago Election Board. Resources for Candidates Who Plan to Run in Chicago Illinois determines ballot order by order of filing, so the first person in line gets the top spot. When multiple candidates arrive at opening time on the first day, a lottery breaks the tie.11City of Highwood. Illinois State Board of Elections Lottery Procedures
After the filing period 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 the circulator statements. An electoral board conducts an administrative hearing and has the authority to strike a candidate from the ballot if the papers fail to meet statutory requirements.
Withdrawing
A candidate who changes their mind after filing can submit a written withdrawal to the election authority. Illinois law sets a deadline for withdrawal that varies by election type. Once the deadline passes, your name stays on the ballot whether you are still campaigning or not.
Campaign Finance Rules
Illinois regulates campaign money through the Campaign Disclosure Act, with the State Board of Elections enforcing the law.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 D-1 Statement of Organization with the State Board, then submits periodic disclosure reports detailing contributions and expenditures. Contributions of $1,000 or more trigger a separate A-1 report that must be filed promptly.
Illinois imposes contribution limits that are adjusted for inflation. As of 2025, individual donors 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 These caps can be lifted entirely if a candidate self-funds beyond a certain threshold, a mechanism that has affected several Chicago races in recent cycles. Political action committees face their own limits, and current figures are published on the State Board of Elections website.
Penalties for Late or Missing Filings
The State Board does not treat late filings as minor paperwork issues. A late quarterly disclosure report can draw a civil penalty of up to $5,000. Late A-1 reports for large contributions are penalized per contribution, with fines running 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
Recounts and Certification
After polls close, the Board of Election Commissioners canvasses the results and certifies the winners. A losing candidate who came 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 a cost of $50 per precinct.16Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 10 ILCS 5/22-9.1 – Discovery Recount A discovery recount does not change results on its own. It gives the petitioner evidence to use in a formal election contest if the recount reveals irregularities. Overturning a Chicago result therefore takes both a successful discovery recount and a separate court proceeding.