ILCS » Chapter 10 · Act 5
Illinois Compiled Statutes

10 ILCS 5/28-5 (2026)

Not less than 68 days before a regularly scheduled election, each local election official shall certify the public questions to be submitted to the voters of or within his political subdivision at that election which have been initiated by petitions filed in his office or by action of the governing board of his political subdivision

✓ current as of May 2026
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(10 ILCS 5/28-5) (from Ch. 46, par. 28-5)
    Sec. 28-5. Not less than 68 days before a regularly scheduled election, each local election official shall certify the public questions to be submitted to the voters of or within his political subdivision at that election which have been initiated by petitions filed in his office or by action of the governing board of his political subdivision.
    Not less than 68 days before a regularly scheduled election, each circuit court clerk shall certify the public questions to be submitted to the voters of a political subdivision at that election which have been ordered to be so submitted by the circuit court pursuant to law. Not less than 30 days before the date set by the circuit court for the conduct of an emergency referendum pursuant to Section 2A-1.4, the circuit court clerk shall certify the public question as herein required.
    Local election officials and circuit court clerks shall make their certifications, as required by this Section, to each election authority having jurisdiction over any of the territory of the respective political subdivision in which the public question is to be submitted to referendum.
    Not less than 68 days before the next regular election, the county clerk shall certify the public questions to be submitted to the voters of the entire county at that election, which have been initiated by petitions filed in his office or by action of the county board, to the board of election commissioners, if any, in his county.
    Not less than 74 days before the general election, the State Board of Elections shall certify any questions proposing an amendment to Article IV of the Constitution pursuant to Section 3, Article XIV of the Constitution and any advisory public questions to be submitted to the voters of the entire State, which have been initiated by petitions received or filed at its office, to the respective county clerks. Not less than 62 days before the general election, the county clerk shall certify such questions to the board of election commissioners, if any, in his county.
    The certifications shall include the form of the public question to be placed on the ballot, the date on which the public question was initiated by either the filing of a petition or the adoption of a resolution or ordinance by a governing body, as the case may be, and a certified copy of any court order or political subdivision resolution or ordinance requiring the submission of the public question. Certifications of propositions for annexation to, disconnection from, or formation of political subdivisions or for other purposes shall include a description of the territory in which the proposition is required to be submitted, whenever such territory is not coterminous with an existing political subdivision.
    The certification of a public question described in subsection (b) of Section 28-6 shall include the precincts included in the territory concerning which the public question is to be submitted, as well as a common description of such territory, in plain and nonlegal language, and specify the election at which the question is to be submitted. The description of the territory shall be prepared by the local election official as set forth in the resolution or ordinance initiating the public question.
    Whenever a local election official, an election authority, or the State Board of Elections is in receipt of an initiating petition, or a certification for the submission of a public question at an election at which the public question may not be placed on the ballot or submitted because of the limitations of Section 28-1, such officer or board shall give notice of such prohibition, by registered mail, as follows:
        (a) in the case of a petition, to any person
    
designated on a certificate attached thereto as the proponent or as the proponents' attorney for purposes of notice of objections;
        (b) in the case of a certificate from a local
    
election authority, to such local election authority, who shall thereupon give notice as provided in subparagraph (a), or notify the governing board which adopted the initiating resolution or ordinance;
        (c) in the case of a certification from a circuit
    
court clerk of a court order, to such court, which shall thereupon give notice as provided in subparagraph (a) and shall modify its order in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
    If the petition, resolution or ordinance initiating such prohibited public question did not specify a particular election for its submission, the officer or board responsible for certifying the question to the election authorities shall certify or recertify the question, in the manner required herein, for submission on the ballot at the next regular election no more than one year, or 15 months in the case of a back door referendum as defined in subsection (f) of Section 28-2, subsequent to the filing of the initiating petition or the adoption of the initiating resolution or ordinance and at which the public question may be submitted, and the appropriate election authorities shall submit the question at such election, unless the public question is ordered submitted as an emergency referendum pursuant to Section 2A-1.4 or is withdrawn as may be provided by law.
(Source: P.A. 97-81, eff. 7-5-11.)

    
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2008–2021 · leading case: Jones v. Markiewicz-Qualkinbush, 842 F.3d 1053 (7th Cir. 2016).
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Jones v. Markiewicz-Qualkinbush, 842 F.3d 1053 (7th Cir. 2016). “Deciding which three referenda have priority for the February ballot requires' an application of 10 ILCS 5/28-5’s “holdover clause.” For reasons that will become apparent shortly, we need not resolve this question of state law today; we merely note that the Petition Plaintiffs…”
McHenry Twp. v. Cnty. of McHenry, 2021 IL App (2d) 200478 (Ill. App. Ct. 2021). · cites it 2× “2019)), pursuant to the Township Code and the Election Code (including section 28-5 of the Election Code (10 ILCS 5/28-5 (West 2018) (providing that, when “a local election official[1] *** is in receipt of *** a certification for the submission of a public question at an…”
Zurek v. Franklin Park Officers Electoral Bd., 2014 IL App (1st) 142618 (Ill. App. Ct. 2015). “See also 10 ILCS 5/28-5 (West 2012) (“Not less than 68 days before a regularly scheduled election, each local election official shall certify the public questions to be submitted to the voters of or within his political subdivision at that election which have been initiated by…”
McHenry Twp. v. Cnty. of McHenry, 2021 IL App (2d) 200478 (Ill. App. Ct. 2021). · cites it 2× “2019)), pursuant to the Township Code and the Election Code (including section 28-5 of the Election Code (10 ILCS 5/28-5 (West 2018) (providing that, when “a local election official[1] *** is in receipt of *** a certification for the submission of a public question at an…”
Zurek v. Franklin Park Officers Electoral Bd., 2014 IL App (1st) 142618 (Ill. App. Ct. 2014). “See also 10 ILCS 5/28-5 (West 2012) ("Not less than 68 days before a regularly scheduled election, each local election official shall certify the public questions to be submitted to the voters of or within the political subdivision at that election which have been initiated by…”
Morgan v. White (N.D. Ill. 2020). “XIV, § 3; 10 ILCS 5/28-5). Plaintiffs’ requested extension “would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for those defendants to fulfill their constitutionally and statutorily mandated obligations.”
Zurek v. Franklin Park Officers Electoral Bd., 2014 IL App (1st) 142618 (Ill. App. Ct. 2014). “See also 10 ILCS 5/28-5 (West 2012) ("Not less than 68 days before a regularly scheduled election, each local election official shall certify the public questions to be submitted to the voters of or within the political subdivision at that election which have been initiated by…”
Haymore v. Orr (Ill. App. Ct. 2008). “" 10 ILCS 5/28-5 (West 2004). There is no dispute that here the village clerk timely certified the plaintiff's question.”
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