---
type: "Bill"
title: "ELECTION-NOMINATION VACANCY"
description: "Amends the Election Code. Provides that when a political party committee fills a vacancy in nomination occurring because no candidate's name appeared on the consolidated primary ballot and no write-in candidate was nominated, the committee must do so within 16 days after the primary. In the case of a vacancy in nomination that occurs because the name of a political party's candidate did not appear on the general primary ballot and no write-in candidate was nominated, provides that the vacancy may be filled only by a person selected by the party committee within 60 days after the primary who circulates and files petitions for that office in the same manner as an independent candidate (now, by a person nominated by the committee within 60 days after the general primary)."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "96th"
identifier: "HB 723"
citation: "Illinois HB 723 (96th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 56
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2009-02-05"
last_action: "2009-11-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/75dec79b-c87a-4dac-a484-c9d45e6bde56"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=723&GAID=10&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=41436&SessionID=76&GA=96"
source_hash: "36d4966f2967e41c14453b2a454b1ae65090ba1d4d9334dae13604b437211f30"
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 HB 723 (96th) — ELECTION-NOMINATION VACANCY

Amends the Election Code. Provides that when a political party committee fills a vacancy in nomination occurring because no candidate's name appeared on the consolidated primary ballot and no write-in candidate was nominated, the committee must do so within 16 days after the primary. In the case of a vacancy in nomination that occurs because the name of a political party's candidate did not appear on the general primary ballot and no write-in candidate was nominated, provides that the vacancy may be filled only by a person selected by the party committee within 60 days after the primary who circulates and files petitions for that office in the same manner as an independent candidate (now, by a person nominated by the committee within 60 days after the general primary).

## 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=09600HB0723&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=41436&DocNum=723&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB0723eng&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=41436&DocNum=723&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB0723enr&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=41436&DocNum=723&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Concurrence, Amendment 1 — **117–0** (pass) · lower
- Motion — **55–0** (pass) · upper
- Motion — **107–9** (fail) · lower
- Third Reading — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **112–4** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Mike Fortner — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2009-02-05** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Mike Fortner `filing`
- **2009-02-06** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-02-06** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-02-11** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. John D'Amico
- **2009-02-11** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Joseph M. Lyons
- **2009-02-11** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Randy Ramey, Jr.
- **2009-02-11** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Dennis M. Reboletti
- **2009-02-11** Assigned to Elections & Campaign Reform Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-03-10** Do Pass / Short Debate Elections & Campaign Reform Committee; 009-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2009-03-11** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2009-03-23** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2009-03-23** Held on Calendar Order of Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2009-03-24** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Rep. Mike Fortner `amendment-introduction`
- **2009-03-24** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-03-26** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommends Be Adopted Rules Committee; 005-000-000 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2009-04-01** House Floor Amendment No. 1 Adopted by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2009-04-01** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2009-04-02** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 112-004-001 `reading-3, passage`
- **2009-04-02** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2009-04-02** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading April 21, 2009 `reading-1`
- **2009-04-02** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. John J. Cullerton
- **2009-04-15** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-04-15** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-22** Assigned to Elections `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-22** Alternate Chief Sponsor Changed to Sen. Terry Link
- **2009-04-23** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Dan Cronin
- **2009-04-29** Do Pass Elections; 008-001-000 `committee-passage`
- **2009-04-29** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 30, 2009
- **2009-05-05** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Terry Link `amendment-introduction`
- **2009-05-05** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2009-05-13** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Assignments Refers to Elections
- **2009-05-13** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommend Do Adopt Elections; 005-000-000
- **2009-05-14** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2009-05-14** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Adopted; Link `amendment-passage`
- **2009-05-14** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 15, 2009
- **2009-05-15** Third Reading - Passed; 049-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2009-05-15** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2009-05-15** Placed on Calendar Order of Concurrence Senate Amendment(s) 1
- **2009-05-18** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion Filed Concur Rep. Mike Fortner
- **2009-05-18** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-05-26** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Recommends Be Adopted Rules Committee; 004-000-000
- **2009-05-28** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 House Concurs 117-000-000
- **2009-05-28** Passed Both Houses
- **2009-06-26** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2009-08-25** Governor Amendatory Veto `executive-veto`
- **2009-10-05** Placed on Calendar Amendatory Veto October 14, 2009
- **2009-10-05** Motion Filed Override Amendatory Veto Rep. Mike Fortner
- **2009-10-14** 3/5 Vote Required
- **2009-10-14** Override Amendatory Veto - House Passed 107-009-000
- **2009-10-22** Placed on Calendar Amendatory Veto October 28, 2009
- **2009-10-28** Motion Filed Override Amendatory Veto Sen. Terry Link
- **2009-10-30** 3/5 Vote Required
- **2009-10-30** Override Amendatory Veto - Senate Passed 055-000-000
- **2009-10-30** Amendatory Veto Overridden Both Houses
- **2009-11-03** Effective Date January 1, 2010
- **2009-11-03** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0809 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/75dec79b-c87a-4dac-a484-c9d45e6bde56`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).