By: Derek Hawkins//July 1, 2019//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Edward Acevedo v. Cook County Officers Electoral Board, et al.
Case No.: 18-2979
Officials: HAMILTON, BARRETT, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Signature Requirement – Constitutionality – Strict Scrutiny
Before Edward Acevedo could appear on the 2018 Democratic primary ballot for Cook County Sheriff, he had to obtain a certain number of voter signatures on a nominating petition. He didn’t meet the signature requirement, so he was kept off the ballot. He then sued the Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois electoral boards, arguing that he Cook County signature requirement is unconstitutional because it is more onerous than the signature requirement for statewide offices. According to Acevedo, the comparatively higher county requirement can survive only if it is narrowly tailored to advance a compelling state interest.
Acevedo is wrong. Strict scrutiny is not triggered by the existence of a less burdensome restriction—it is triggered only when the challenged regulation itself imposes a severe burden. Because Acevedo has not alleged that the burden imposed by the Cook County signature requirement is severe, the defendants need not show any justification for it beyond Illinois’s interest in orderly and fair elections. That interest easily justifies the signature requirement here.
Affirmed