Libertarians Not an “Established Political Party” in McHenry County, Illinois, According to County Judge

A judge in McHenry County, Illinois, has ruled that the Libertarian Party of Illinois does not qualify as an “established political party” within the county. As a result, it will not be allowed to field candidates on the ballot for the March primaries, increasing the number of signatures needed to appear on the ballot for the general election.

According to a report from local media outlet Shaw Local News, Judge Kevin Costello issued his ruling in response to a complaint filed by local clerk Joe Tirio. The complaint challenged Chair Bill Redpath and the party’s claim that it qualifies as an established political party eligible to nominate candidates for the upcoming March primary ballots.

“The biggest difference between an established political party and a party that is not yet established is the number of signatures on nominating petitions that must be garnered in order to be placed on an election ballot,” Tirio’s complaint is quoted as saying.

The complaint asserted that the party failed to maintain over 5% of the vote during the 2022 election cycle, a requirement necessary to be considered an established party. In response, Redpath argued that Libertarian candidates for county auditor and coroner each garnered more than 25% of the vote in their respective races during the 2020 general election and that the next election cycle for these two positions would not technically occur until the following year.

Without being considered an established party, state Libertarians will need to gather a considerably larger number of signatures from registered voters to appear on the 2024 general election ballot. For instance, according to Ballotpedia, a candidate running for statewide office with an established party would require the signatures of 5,000 eligible party members. In contrast, an unaffiliated candidate running for the same office would need either 1% of the total voters from the most recent general election or 25,000 signatures, whichever is less.

The filing period officially begins next week.

Readers of Independent Political Report can access the entire article published by Amanda Marrazzo in the Shaw Local News Network at this link.