Before you file to run for local office in Illinois, you need five things done: the right track and filing office confirmed, your signature number in hand with a margin, petition sheets circulated and notarized correctly, a complete filing packet (notarized Statement of Candidacy, petition sheets, Statement of Economic Interests receipt), and a plan for objections and the campaign after. This checklist puts every item in order for the 2027 consolidated elections.
Print it, work top to bottom, and check things off. It follows the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) 2027 Candidate's Guide and calendar, which say they are not legal advice. This list is not either, so confirm each item with your filing office or an election attorney. For the full walkthrough by office, see our guide to running for local office in Illinois.
Your track and dates
- ☐ Ask your filing office which track your race is on.
- ☐ February 23, 2027 track (partisan municipal in towns over 5,000, nonpartisan municipal primaries, council-manager cities, all Chicago offices): filing October 19 to 26, 2026, objections due November 2, ballot certified December 17, early voting from January 14, 2027.
- ☐ April 6, 2027 track (school, park, library, community college, fire protection and forest preserve boards; independents and new-party municipal candidates; most nonpartisan villages): filing November 16 to 23, 2026, objections due December 1 or 2, ballot certified January 28, 2027, early voting from February 25 (March 12 where a February primary ran).
- ☐ Note that no township offices are on the 2027 ballot.
- ☐ Put the filing week, the objection deadline and election day on your calendar now.
Where you file
- ☐ Municipal office (mayor, village president, trustee, alderperson, clerk, treasurer): city or village clerk, or the clerk of the Board of Election Commissioners where one exists.
- ☐ Park district: the Park District Secretary.
- ☐ Library district: the Library District Secretary. Township or municipal library: the local municipal or township clerk.
- ☐ School board: the county clerk (or county board of election commissioners) of the county where the school district's principal office is. Not the school district office.
- ☐ Community college: the secretary of the college board. Fire protection district: the secretary of the district board.
- ☐ Ask the office its hours during filing week and which petition form to use.
Your signature number
- ☐ Get your exact minimum from the filing office, in writing if you can.
- ☐ If you are an independent, also note the maximum.
- ☐ Set a goal above the minimum. Many campaigns aim for 1.5 to 2 times the minimum as common practice.
- ☐ Track your running count each week against the goal.
Our office-by-office posts list the formulas, for example the village trustee guide and the park district and library board guide.
Before the first signature
- ☐ Use the official petition form for your office.
- ☐ Fill in the heading on every sheet first: election, your name, office, party (if any), your residence.
- ☐ Make the heading identical on every sheet.
- ☐ Use your name exactly as it will appear on your Statement of Candidacy. No titles, degrees or slogans.
- ☐ Copy blank forms if needed; every signature on them must be original.
- ☐ Count back 90 days from the last filing day. Nothing gathered before that counts.
Circulators
- ☐ Every circulator is a U.S. citizen, 18 or older (or 18 by the consolidated election).
- ☐ Circulators do not need to be registered voters, but they must list their current address.
- ☐ One circulator per sheet. No passing clipboards.
- ☐ The circulator personally witnesses every signature on their sheet.
- ☐ Partisan races: a circulator carries petitions for only one established party.
- ☐ Each circulator fills in the dates circulated and signs the statement before a notary.
- ☐ Avoid using a petition signer as the notary.
Signers
- ☐ Every signer is a registered voter in your district, at the address they write.
- ☐ Each person signs their own name. No signing for a spouse or family member.
- ☐ Street address, city or village, county and state on every line (county, city and state may be pre-printed if everyone lives there).
- ☐ No P.O. boxes, with narrow exceptions.
- ☐ Dark ink. Avoid ditto marks.
- ☐ Never accept an electronic signature.
- ☐ Partisan primaries: signers sign for one established party only. Nonpartisan races: a voter may sign as many petitions as there are seats.
Checking your own sheets
- ☐ Read every line against your district map before filing.
- ☐ Strike bad lines yourself (candidate or circulator only), initial each strike, and list them on a certificate of deletions (SBE Form P-2A).
- ☐ Count again after strikes. Are you still above your goal?
The filing packet
- ☐ Statement of Candidacy, sworn, signed and notarized, at the front.
- ☐ Petition sheets, originals, numbered from 1 starting with the top sheet.
- ☐ Sheets fastened in book form at one edge. Not paper clips, not a clipboard, not taped end to end.
- ☐ Statement of Economic Interests filed with the county clerk of the county where your unit of government has its principal office.
- ☐ SEI receipt filed with your filing office by 5:00 p.m. on the last filing day.
- ☐ Certificate of deletions, if you struck lines.
- ☐ Loyalty Oath (optional).
- ☐ Make a full copy of the packet for your own records before you hand it over.
Filing day
- ☐ Decide: in person, by mail, or by an agent.
- ☐ Want a chance at the top ballot line? Be in line when the office opens on the first day. Those in line, plus the first USPS delivery, enter a lottery.
- ☐ Filing between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. on the last day enters a drawing for the last positions.
- ☐ Once filed, the petition cannot be changed. Only the SEI receipt may be added by the deadline.
- ☐ Filing a second set? You must cancel the first in writing within the notice window, or only the first counts.
- ☐ Running for two offices that cannot be held together? Withdraw from all but one within five business days after the last filing day.
Objections
- ☐ Know your deadline: November 2, 2026 (February track) or December 1 or 2 (April track).
- ☐ Know your board: Municipal Officers Electoral Board (municipal), County Officers Electoral Board (school and special districts), or Education Officers Electoral Board (community colleges).
- ☐ Keep an election attorney's number handy for that week.
- ☐ Know the clock: the board meets three to five days after the chair receives an objection, and court review must be sought within five days of its decision.
Money
- ☐ Track every dollar raised and spent from the start, including your own.
- ☐ Cross $5,000 in 12 months? File Form D-1 with ISBE within 10 business days (2 business days in the last 30 days before the election).
- ☐ Once a committee is registered, it files every required report until it files a Final Report.
- ☐ Committee registered? Plan for quarterly reports due the 15th of the month after each quarter.
Getting ready to reach voters
- ☐ Get a list of registered voters in your district (your filing office or county party can tell you how).
- ☐ Carry a separate, dated opt-in sheet at the doors that plainly says the person agrees to campaign texts. A petition signature is not consent.
- ☐ Never text everyone who signed your petition.
- ☐ If you plan to text as a campaign, confirm you will have a committee with an EIN and a published election-authority filing. Campaign Verify requires both and costs $95 per two-year cycle.
- ☐ Time your Campaign Verify request: before November 15, 2026 it expires January 31, 2027; on or after November 15 it lasts to January 31, 2029.
Set up texting in CampaignCNX+
- ☐ Open your CampaignCNX+ account and buy your number. Nothing sends until it is bought.
- ☐ Let CampaignCNX+ file your 10DLC or toll-free carrier registration for you.
- ☐ Use the CampaignCNX+ Campaign Verify guidance to complete your verification.
- ☐ Add campaign helpers as team members (admin, manager or staffer) so replies are worked in one shared inbox.
- ☐ Load only opted-in supporters.
- ☐ Schedule your early voting reminder inside quiet hours: January 14 (February track) or February 25 (April track, March 12 where a February primary ran).
- ☐ Schedule a final-weekend reminder before election day.
- ☐ STOP replies are handled automatically. Do not re-add anyone who opted out.
One account, ready before early voting
CampaignCNX+ starts with 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. Pay as you go is $0.06 per SMS, or Basic is $55 a month with 1,000 SMS. Illinois campaigns can see our current offer on the Illinois political texting page.