Illinois - It's Our Responsibility

I had a very interesting and enlightening correspondence with Kay Walker from the Illinois Secretary of State's office this morning. The conversation ended with a phone call, in which I had something of an epiphany. Ms. Walker was explaining to me that it isn't the job of the SoS to verify candidate eligibility, but that it was his job to remove a candidate whose qualifications had been challenged and found lacking. All of a sudden I realized that the critical piece in the puzzle was the citizen who challenged the candidate's qualifications in the first place. It really isn't the job of the Secretary of State to check these qualifications. It's our job, as American citizens, to be wary of the candidates who seek to represent us, and, if we feel so inclined, to force them to provide their credentials. We as a people have perhaps become a bit complacent in exercising our rights and duties as citizens of this country.

Nearly every state I've researched has laws that allow a citizen to challenge the credentials of any candidate on the ballot. Instead of pointing our fingers at our leaders, perhaps we would be better served by educating ourselves on the avenues available to us in this fine democracy of ours.

For those interested, here is a copy of the written correspondence between Ms. Walker and I.

------------

Dear Sir/Madam,

In reviewing the Illinois Election Code, I was unable to ascertain who is responsible for ensuring that the candidates for U.S. Senator are qualified to hold office. Could you please provide me with the following information:

1) Who is responsible for checking candidates for U.S. Senator qualifications.
2) When the qualification process takes place.
3) What evidence is provided by the candidate that allows a determination of eligibility to be made.

I thank you for your time and attention to this matter..

Sincerely,
Your Fellow Citizen,
Justin W. Riggs

------------
It is up to a registered voter in the district to file an objection against a candidate that has filed a petitions. We accept all petitions that are filed with us. If you need more information on objections you can contact our legal department at 217/782-0608.

------------

Ms. Walker,

No, I'm not interested in filing an objection against a candidate - what I'm looking for is information regarding what paperwork a Senatorial candidate must file in order to be placed upon the ballot, and who determines whether or not the candidate is eligible to run for office in your state.
For example, when I asked this same type of question to the Oregon Secretary of State, their response was:

"The Secretary of State is the elections filing officer for U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator; statewide candidates, such as Secretary of State, State Treasurer and Attorney General, as well as statewide judicial, and for other state candidates for State Representative, State Senate, Circuit Court judges and District Attorney. For the Primary Election and General Election there is a listing of candidates on our website, www.sos.state.or.us -select Elections Division, then Candidates. For each of the candidates listed from U.S. Senator down through District Attorney, there would be in the original file a form the candidate signed and copies of the county verification paperwork that answers the voter registration and residency question for each candidate. For copies of these documents,we would need to follow our public records request process."

Is there a similar process in Illinois, whereby I might be able to make a document request under the state open records act, and obtain filing papers from Senatorial candidates?

I thank you in advance for your time, and for your prompt reply to my last message. It is much appreciated.

Sincerely,
Your Fellow Citizen,
Justin W. Riggs

------------
In Illinois a candidate has to file petitions, statement of candidacy, loyalty oath (optional) and a statement of economic interest (if applicable). Different offices take a different amount of signatures. For a U. S. Senator they need at least 5,000 signature and no more than 10,000. We do not count signatures when a candidate files. If a senate candidate files only 500 signatures and no one objects to his petitions he is on the ballot. If you need more information please call me. (number redacted)