ELECTION INFO: SECRETARY OF STATE
Phone: (217) 782-4141
Email: webmaster@elections.state.il.us
STATE-ISTICS: STATE INFORMATION

We cannot circulate petitions until 2011, unless there are changes to the law

Established party qualifications:

Received more than 5% of the vote in the last
gubernatorial election or receive 5% of the vote for
any statewide office. [5/10-2]

Primary ballot access:

Petition: 3,000—5,000 signatures [5/7-11]
Deadline: between 99 and 92 days before the
primary or between 69 and 62 days before the
primary [5/7-11]
(Both Democrats and Republicans selected the
second option in 2000)
No filing fees

New party qualifications:

Received less than 5% of the vote in the last
gubernatorial election [5/7-2 & 5/10-2]
Party must file a petition with 1% of voters or
25,000 signatures, whichever is less, along with a
full slate of candidates [5/10-2]

General ballot access for new party and independent candidates:

File nomination paper
Petition: 1% of voters or 25,000 signatures,
whichever is less [5/10-3]
Deadline: 141 and 134 days before the election
[5/10-6]
In 2000, there were four new parties (Green,
Independent, Libertarian, Reform) and one
independent candidate

Last day to withdraw from the ballot:

67 days prior
to the election

Primary date:

third Tuesday in March [5-2A-1.1]

Participation:

Closed primary, with no preliminary
party enrollment

Voter registration:

29 days before the primary
election; 28 days before the general election

Source:
The Reform Institute (December 2003). Presidential Ballot Access: State by State Scorecard. Retrieved November 10, 2008, from https://www.policyarchive.org/bitstream/handle/10207/5646/2003scorecard.....

Write-In Information

To qualify as a write-in candidate in the entire state of Illinois, the candidate has to submit a "Declaration of Intent to be a Write-in Candidate" form to every jurisdiction (i.e. County) in the state and with each of the 8 Board of Elections Commissioners. There are 102 Counties in Illinois, so the candidate needs to file 110 forms total. Each one has to be signed and notarized individually. The Declaration of Intent form is available from the Illinois State Board of Elections. Call (312) 814-6440.
Source:
Frank Moore (May 8, 2008). US Presidential Write-In Candidate Requirements For Each State. Retrieved November 10, 2008, from http://www.writein2008.blogspot.com/