---
type: "Bill"
title: "ELEC-PETITION FORMS"
description: "Amends the Election Code. Provides that when the secretary or clerk of the political subdivision provides the form for a back door referendum petition, the legal sufficiency of the form cannot be the basis for a challenge to placing the referendum on the ballot. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "94th"
identifier: "SB 1637"
citation: "Illinois SB 1637 (94th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 28
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2005-02-23"
last_action: "2005-06-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/268c50d7-2b3c-4d10-8d6f-5b70da2d7640"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1637&GAID=8&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=19706&SessionID=50&GA=94"
source_hash: "1b93d44df0cc3487e0966285b9ed844e74b032220bb95a597d9ff7cff6e69763"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois SB 1637 (94th) — ELEC-PETITION FORMS

Amends the Election Code. Provides that when the secretary or clerk of the political subdivision provides the form for a back door referendum petition, the legal sufficiency of the form cannot be the basis for a challenge to placing the referendum on the ballot. Effective immediately.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400SB1637&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=19706&DocNum=1637&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400SB1637eng&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=19706&DocNum=1637&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400SB1637enr&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=19706&DocNum=1637&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **117–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **57–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Christine Radogno — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2005-02-23** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Christine Radogno `filing`
- **2005-02-23** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-02-23** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2005-03-02** Assigned to Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2005-03-09** Do Pass Local Government; 007-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2005-03-09** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 10, 2005
- **2005-04-07** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2005-04-07** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading April 8, 2005
- **2005-04-08** Third Reading - Passed; 057-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2005-04-08** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2005-04-08** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-04-08** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Paul D. Froehlich
- **2005-04-08** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-04-08** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2005-04-12** Alternate Chief Sponsor Changed to Rep. Eileen Lyons
- **2005-04-12** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Paul D. Froehlich
- **2005-04-20** Assigned to Elections & Campaign Reform Committee `referral-committee`
- **2005-04-26** Do Pass / Short Debate Elections & Campaign Reform Committee; 005-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2005-04-27** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2005-04-28** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Patricia R. Bellock
- **2005-04-28** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2005-04-28** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2005-05-03** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 117-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2005-05-03** Passed Both Houses
- **2005-05-31** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2005-06-14** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2005-06-14** Effective Date June 14, 2005
- **2005-06-14** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 94-0030 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/268c50d7-2b3c-4d10-8d6f-5b70da2d7640`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).