Illinois’s ‘Full-Slate’ Voting Law Unconstitutional

An Illinois law that requires political parties that aren’t established to enter candidates for all offices on the ballot where they wish to compete is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court held (Libertarian Party of Ill. v. Scholz, 2017 BL 336145, 7th Cir., No. 16-1667, 9/22/17).

The law, the only one of its kind nationally, is a “severe burden” on constitutional rights and “thwarts” the interests Illinois invokes in justifying it, Judge Diane S. Sykes wrote Sept. 22 for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

The Libertarian Party of Illinois sued the state after it couldn’t ...