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Illinois Compiled Statutes

10 ILCS 5/9-3 (2026)

Political committee statement of organization

✓ current as of May 2026
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(10 ILCS 5/9-3) (from Ch. 46, par. 9-3)
    Sec. 9-3. Political committee statement of organization.
    (a) Every political committee shall file with the State Board of Elections a statement of organization within 10 business days of the creation of such committee, except any political committee created within the 30 days before an election shall file a statement of organization within 2 business days in person, by facsimile transmission, or by electronic mail. Any change in information previously submitted in a statement of organization shall be reported, as required for the original statement of organization by this Section, within 10 days following that change. The Board shall impose a civil penalty of $50 per business day upon political committees for failing to file or late filing of a statement of organization. Such penalties shall not exceed $5,000, and shall not exceed $10,000 for statewide office political committees. There shall be no fine if the statement is mailed and postmarked at least 72 hours prior to the filing deadline.
    In addition to the civil penalties authorized by this Section, the State Board of Elections or any other political committee may apply to the circuit court for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction against the political committee to cease the expenditure of funds and to cease operations until the statement of organization is filed.
    For the purpose of this Section, "statewide office" means the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, and State Comptroller.
    (b) The statement of organization shall include:
        (1) the name and address of the political committee
    
and the designation required by Section 9-2;
        (2) the scope, area of activity, party affiliation,
    
and purposes of the political committee;
        (3) the name, address, and position of each custodian
    
of the committee's books and accounts;
        (4) the name, address, and position of the
    
committee's principal officers, including the chairman, treasurer, and officers and members of its finance committee, if any;
        (5) (blank);
        (6) a statement of what specific disposition of
    
residual fund will be made in the event of the dissolution or termination of the committee;
        (7) a listing of all banks or other financial
    
institutions, safety deposit boxes, and any other repositories or custodians of funds used by the committee; and
        (8) the amount of funds available for campaign
    
expenditures as of the filing date of the committee's statement of organization.
    (c) Each statement of organization required to be filed in accordance with this Section shall be verified, dated, and signed by either the treasurer of the political committee making the statement or the candidate on whose behalf the statement is made and shall contain substantially the following verification:
"VERIFICATION:
    I declare that this statement of organization (including any accompanying schedules and statements) has been examined by me and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, is a true, correct, and complete statement of organization as required by Article 9 of the Election Code. I understand that willfully filing a false or incomplete statement is subject to a civil penalty of at least $1,001 and up to $5,000.
................  ..........................................
(date of filing) (signature of person making the statement)". 
    (d) The statement of organization for a ballot initiative committee also shall include a verification signed by the chairperson of the committee that (i) the committee is formed for the purpose of supporting or opposing a question of public policy, (ii) all contributions and expenditures of the committee will be used for the purpose described in the statement of organization, (iii) the committee may accept unlimited contributions from any source, provided that the ballot initiative committee does not make contributions or expenditures in support of or opposition to a candidate or candidates for nomination for election, election, or retention, and (iv) failure to abide by these requirements shall deem the committee in violation of this Article.
    (d-5) The statement of organization for an independent expenditure committee also shall include a verification signed by the chairperson of the committee that (i) the committee is formed for the exclusive purpose of making independent expenditures, (ii) all contributions and expenditures of the committee will be used for the purpose described in the statement of organization, (iii) the committee may accept unlimited contributions from any source, provided that the independent expenditure committee does not make contributions to any candidate political committee, political party committee, or political action committee, and (iv) failure to abide by these requirements shall deem the committee in violation of this Article.
    (e) For purposes of implementing the changes made by this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, every political committee in existence on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly shall file the statement required by this Section with the Board by December 31, 2010.
(Source: P.A. 103-467, eff. 8-4-23.)

    
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1998–2021 · leading case: Ctr. for Individual Freedom v. Madigan, 697 F.3d 464 (7th Cir. 2012).
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Ctr. for Individual Freedom v. Madigan, 697 F.3d 464 (7th Cir. 2012). · cites it 2× “A political committee must register with the Illinois Board of Elections, 10 ILCS 5/9-3(a), and file quarterly reports that open its finances to public scrutiny.”
Cook Cnty. Repub. Party v. State Bd. of Elections, 882 N.E.2d 93 (Ill. App. Ct. 2007). · cites it 2× “12 (West 2004)); and (3) requires every local political committee to file a statement of organization (10 ILCS 5/9-3 (West 2004)). Any person who believes the Election Code has been violated may file a complaint with the Board.”
Illinois Repub. Party v. State Bd. of Elections, 691 N.E.2d 169 (Ill. App. Ct. 1998). · cites it 3× “The complaints alleged the United Democrats violated section 9-3 of the Campaign Disclosure Act, requiring the filing of a statement of organization by every political committee (10 ILCS 5/9-3 (West 1996)), and that both respondents violated section 9-10 of the Election Code,…”
Sherman v. Indian Trails Pub. Library Dist., 2012 IL App (1st) 112771 (Ill. App. Ct. 2012). “” See 10 ILCS 5/9-3, 9-10, 9-26 (West 2010). ¶ 15 Article 17 of the Election Code, “Conduct of Elections and Making Returns,” deals with “the actual conduct of elections and making of returns from and in the election precincts.”
Illinois Repub. Party v. Illinois State Bd. of Elections, 720 N.E.2d 231 (Ill. 1999). “The other complaint alleged that the United Democrats of Illinois had violated sections 9-3, 9-4, and 9-10 of the Code (10 ILCS 5/9-3, 9-4, 9-10 (West 1996)) by failing to file a statement of organization with the Board and by failing to report its contributions received and…”
Topinka v. Kimme, 2017 IL App (1st) 161000 (Ill. App. Ct. 2017). “If a committee can no longer carry out its stated purpose in its statement of organization (see 10 ILCS 5/9-3 (West 2014)) or comply with other provisions of the Election Code because of a candidate’s death, then it will inevitably become inactive, dissolve or, ultimately…”
Topinka v. Kimme, 2017 IL App (1st) 161000 (Ill. App. Ct. 2017). “If a committee can no longer carry out its stated purpose in its statement of organization (see 10 ILCS 5/9-3 (West 2014)) or comply with other provisions of the Election Code because of a candidate’s death, then it will inevitably become inactive, dissolve, or ultimately…”
Sigcho-Lopez v. Illinois State Bd. of Elections, 2021 IL App (1st) 200561 (Ill. App. Ct. 2021). · cites it 2× “9 (West 2018)) registered with the Board pursuant to section 9-3 of the campaign disclosure statute (10 ILCS 5/9-3 (West 2018)). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the decision of the Board.”
Sigcho-Lopez v. Illinois State Bd. of Elections, 2021 IL App (1st) 200561 (Ill. App. Ct. 2021). · cites it 2× “9 (West 2018)) registered with the Board pursuant to section 9-3 of the Act (10 ILCS 5/9-3 (West 2018)). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the decision of the Board.”
Santana v. State Bd. of Elections (Ill. App. Ct. 2007). · cites it 4× “The Respondent violated 10 ILCS 5/9-3 and 5/9-10 in that the Respondent spent $4648.”
Brennan v. Illinois State Bd. of Elections (Ill. App. Ct. 2002). · cites it 2× “The Board filed a complaint against Brennan, Zapata and the Committee to Stop the Hurckes Four for violating sections 9-2 (10 ILCS 5/9-2 (West 2000)), 9-3 (10 ILCS 5/9-3 (West 2000)), 9-7 (10 ILCS 5/9-7 (West 2000)), 9-10(b-5) (10 ILCS 5/9-10(b-5) (West 2000)) and 9-26 (10 ILCS…”
Illinois Repub. Party v. Bd. of Elections (Ill. App. Ct. 1998). · cites it 3× “The com­plaints al­leged the Unit­ed Demo­crats vio­lat­ed sec­tion 9-3 of the Campaign Disclo­sure Act, re­quiring the filing of a state­ment of organiza­tion by every polit­ical commit­tee (10 ILCS 5/9-3 (West 1996)), and that both re­spon­dents vio­lated sec­tion 9-10 of the…”
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— 10 ILCS 5/9-3(a) — 1 case
Ctr. for Individual Freedom v. Madigan, 697 F.3d 464 (7th Cir. 2012). “A political committee must register with the Illinois Board of Elections, 10 ILCS 5/9-3(a), and file quarterly reports that open its finances to public scrutiny.”
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