Independent congressional candidate Byron Sigcho Lopez and the 4th Congressional District voter Jose Guerra have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Illinois’ ballot access law, arguing that the state’s signature requirements unfairly protect the two-party system and unfairly protect the two-party system and unconstitutionally deny voters a choice in November’s election. “This case is about more than one campaign,” said Byron Sigcho Lopez. “It’s about whether the people of the 4th District get a real choice in this election or whether political insiders get to decide elections before a single vote is cast. Our democracy belongs to the people, not party bosses. Thousands of voters stood with us, and they deserve to have their voices heard.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, seeks to strike down Illinois’ requirement that independent candidates for Congress collect signatures equal to five percent of all votes cast in the previous election. In the 4th Congressional District, that meant collecting 10,816 valid signatures, while the Democratic candidate needed only 697 and the Republican candidate needed 371. Sigcho Lopez submitted the maximum number of signatures allowed – more than 17,000 – that he collected in the 90-day window allowed. However, the Illinois State Officers Electoral Board ruled that only 9,594 were valid.