Goodman v. Ward

State: Illinois

Docket No: 109796 NRel

Case Date: 03/24/2011

Preview:Docket No. 109796.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

DANIEL GOODMAN, Appellee, v. CHRIS WARD et al., Appellants. Opinion filed March 24, 2011.

JUSTICE KARMEIER delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Freeman, Thomas, Garman, Burke, and Theis concurred in the judgment and opinion. Chief Justice Kilbride took no part in the decision.

OPINION At issue in this case is whether a candidate who seeks the office of circuit judge in a judicial subcircuit must be a resident of that subcircuit at the time he or she submits a petition for nomination to the office. By a vote of 2-1, the Will County officers electoral board concluded that residency was not required and that the nominating petition submitted by a nonresident candidate was sufficient to permit the candidate's name to appear on the official ballot for the upcoming primary election. On judicial review, the circuit court of Will County reversed, holding that the name of the nonresident candidate should not appear on the ballot. The appellate court subsequently reached the same conclusion with one justice dissenting. 397 Ill. App. 3d 875. We

granted the nonresident candidate's petition for leave to appeal. Ill. S. Ct. R. 315 (eff. Feb. 26, 2010). For the reasons that follow, we agree with the circuit and appellate courts that the electoral board erred when it denied the objections to the nonresident's candidacy. The judgment of the appellate court, which affirmed the circuit court's judgment, is therefore affirmed. BACKGROUND The pertinent facts are undisputed. Chris Ward, a United States citizen and licensed attorney-at-law of the State of Illinois, filed a petition with the State Board of Elections (see 10 ILCS 5/7

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