Dist. Ct. did not err in denying plaintiffs’ motion for issuance of preliminary injunction in their section 1983 action, alleging that State of Illinois’s signature requirements for placing initiatives and referenda on both local and statewide ballots were too onerous, and thus violated plaintiff’s First Amendment rights given social distancing requirements adopted by Governor of Illinois in light of COVID-19 pandemic. Relevant statute allows 18 months for plaintiff to collect signatures, and record showed that one plaintiff waited until April 2020 (but prior to filing instant lawsuit) to seek said signatures, while other plaintiffs did not start seeking signatures until after filing of lawsuit. As such, since instant social distancing orders occurred prior to April 2020, plaintiffs were not entitled to any emergency relief, because they had plenty of time to gather requisite number of signatures prior to beginning of pandemic. Also, plaintiff failed to show how social distancing orders limited their speech.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Election Law