Judge Rules House Candidates Can Start Circulating Petitions

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Aug 26, 2011 7:40PM

Despite a federal lawsuit filed by 10 Republican congressmen, a judge ruled that U.S. House candidates can start circulating ballot petitions after Labor Day.

According to the judge's ruling, a candidate's petition cannot be ruled invalid, even if future rulings lead to a redrawing of the map, which could lead to some confusion later in the election season.

The Tribune writes:

The judge's ruling, which also ends a GOP-backed request to push back the petition-passing process, could make it difficult to challenge a candidate’s candidacy signatures if congressional boundary lines are shifted as a result of the federal court.

While candidates can gather signatures, the judge warned local election authorities that if they move forward in issuing voter ID cards or redraw precincts to conform to the new boundaries, their actions “could be rendered inapplicable and unusable” if the district map lines are subsequently changed.

The lawsuit filed by the Committee for a Fair and Balanced Map argues that the new map that Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law on June 24 discriminates against Latino and Republican voters.