Citizens for John W. Moore Party v. Board of Election Commissioners of the City of Chicago, Defendants

John Moore ran afoul of a statute providing that “no person shall circulate or certify petitions for candidates of more than one political party ... to be voted upon at the next primary or general election.” Ill. Rev.Stat. eh. 46 § 10-4. The court has asked the Supreme Court of Illinois to tell us whether § 10-4 applies to signatures gathered by (as well as for) a candidate for office. That court is entitled to express puzzlement at our request. The statute says “no person,” and by all accounts Moore is a person.

The order of certification may enable our court to avoid a constitutional…