The State Board of Elections does not charge any fees for registration services. Businesses do, of course, incur costs for the time and resources required to provide and maintain registration information.

No. Illinois law requires all businesses to register electronically. Any registration information received by mail or e-mail will not be processed.

Information about registered businesses is available in the Board's public website here.

Business entity is defined in 30 ILCS 500/50-37 as any entity doing business for profit, whether organized as a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, limited liability company or partnership, or otherwise.

Certificates are available on-line in .pdf format as soon as registration is complete. There is no limit to the number of copies.

No. If a business has registered electronically, that is the only time it will need to register. However, depending upon the circumstances of the individual business, it may have an obligation to keep that registration updated. But as far as creating a new account and re-registering a business, each business can only be registered once.

Yes, if you have registered with Revenue using your Social Security number, you may use that when registering with the Board. In addition, you will need to provide your last name.

Help is available throughout the website by clicking the Help menu option or by clicking on the "?" icon next to the item of interest. In addition, help is available via e-mail or telephone during normal business hours.

No. Information about the business, affiliated persons, and affiliated organizations/entities is available in searchable form on the Board's public website. There are three exceptions: 1) FEIN, tax ID, and social security number are for verification purposes only and are not disclosed; 2) account names and passwords are private to the registrant and are confidential; and 3) the law prohibits the display of the names of minors in this system on the public website.

Pursuant to Public Act 95-971, effective January 1, 2009, any business entity meeting the above definition, whose existing State contracts, or whose bids or offers on State contracts exceed $50,000 annually, must electronically register with the State Board of Elections. For questions regarding who is required to register and what is to be reported on the Registration Form, please review Public Act 95-971, as amended by Public Act 96-0848, 97-0411, 97-0895, and 98-1076, the Board rules and regulations, and the Fact Sheet currently posted on the Illinois Procurement Bulletin at https://www.bidbuy.illinois.gov/bso/. For further guidance, please contact the legal counsel for your business entity or refer to the Act and the Administrative Rules found on this site, to assist you in making that determination.

Yes, for businesses with access to information technology expertise, data may be submitted in an XML file. Click https://berep.elections.il.gov/help/HelpElectronicFile.aspx for detailed instructions.

Illinois law requires that businesses submitting a bid must continue to update from the date of registration to the date after the contract is awarded; changes must be reported within 7 calendar days following such change or no later than a day before the contract is awarded, whichever date is earlier. Businesses with contracts must continue to update for the duration of the term of office of the incumbent officeholder awarding the contract or for a period of 2 years following the expiration or termination of the contract, whichever is longer; changes must be reported on a quarterly basis within 14 calendar days following the last day of January, April, July, and October of each year. If a business with a contract has a pending bid, changes must be reported within 5 business days or no later than a day before the contract is awarded, whichever date is earlier.

If you do not add a business entity within 72 hours, the account will be deleted and you will need to recreate your account.

If your account is not activated within 72 hours, it will be deleted and you will need to recreate your account.

Look at the information you provided when you registered with Revenue and make sure the name and number are appearing exactly like they did at that time. If that does not work, you may contact (217)782-4141 for assistance.

Only one business can be entered per account. In addition, when creating a user account, the 'user name' and the 'e-mail address' of the user must be unique. You cannot use the same 'user name' or the same 'e-mail address' on more than one account.

Check to see if it may have been interpreted as SPAM, and as a result, was filtered out to a different location. If you are unable to locate it, please contact the Board. The e-mail address can be checked to make sure it is correct and another Activate e-mail may be sent.

Please contact the Board at (217)782-4141 for assistance. Documentation will need to be submitted to verify that a business exists. Open and activate an account PRIOR to contacting the Board.

"Affiliated entity" means (i) any corporate parent and each operating subsidiary of the bidding or contracting business entity, (ii) each operating subsidiary of the corporate parent of the bidding or contracting business entity, (iii) any organization recognized by the United States Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization described in Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or any successor provision of federal tax law) established by the bidding or contracting business entity, any affiliated entity of that business entity, or any affiliated person of that business entity, or (iv) any political committee for which the bidding or contracting business entity, or any 501(c) organization described in item (iii) related to that business entity, is the sponsoring entity. "Affiliated entity" does not include an entity prohibited by federal law from making contributions or expenditures in connection with a federal, state, or local election.

"Affiliated person" means (i) any person with any ownership interest or distributive share of the bidding or contracting business entity in excess of 7.5%, (ii) executive employees of the bidding or contracting business entity, and (iii) the spouse of any such persons. "Affiliated person" does not include a person prohibited by federal law from making contributions or expenditures in connection with a federal, state, or local election.

"Executive employee" means (i) the President, Chairman, or Chief Executive Officer of a business entity and any other individual that fulfills equivalent duties as the President, Chairman of the Board, or Chief Executive Officer of a business entity; and (ii) any employee of a business entity whose compensation is determined directly, in whole or in part, by the award or payment of contracts by a State agency to the entity employing the employee. A regular salary that is paid irrespective of the award or payment of a contract with a State agency shall not constitute "compensation" under item (ii) of this definition. "Executive employee" does not include any person prohibited by federal law from making contributions or expenditures in connection with a federal, state, or local election.

Continually make sure that the registration is accurate. Provide a copy of the registration certificate within 10 days after registration to each affiliated entity or affiliated person. The business must also notify any political committee to which it makes a contribution, at the time of the contribution, that it is registered. Any affiliated entity or affiliated person must also tell a political committee that it is affiliated with a registered business entity.

The site is continuously available, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Governor appoints four members from his own political party and selects four from a list of nominees submitted to him by the highest ranking official of the opposite political party. Board members serve staggered, four-year terms. They elect a Chair and a Vice Chair of opposite political parties. The Chair and Vice Chair serve two-year terms on a party rotation basis.

Recommendations for new laws, new interpretations, different procedures, forms, etc., come to the Board from its own staff, election authorities, and a wide variety of other sources. All of these recommendations are thoroughly researched, discussed, and considered for action at open, public meetings. Five members of the Board are necessary to constitute a quorum and five votes are necessary for any action of the Board to become effective.

All claims of irregularity or fraud in any Illinois election presented to the Board are carefully and thoroughly investigated. Most often, clarification of the law resolves many of the problems. The Board is not a police agency but has the power to investigate and refer apparent violations to law enforcement agencies. The Board's role is to see that procedures provided for by state law are complied with throughout the state.

The State Board works closely in all parts of the state with the election authorities by answering their questions and generally providing the information necessary to conduct elections effectively and in accordance with Illinois law. Ongoing training programs for election authorities are conducted, encouraging an exchange of ideas and information to refine the state's election process.

The Campaign Financing Act covers the public's right to know certain financial information about candidates, elected officials and those individuals and groups who are financially involved in political campaigns. The State Board of Elections supervises the administration of the Illinois act and closely monitors campaign expenditures which appear on reports submitted by candidates and committees as required by law. These reports, detailing contributions and expenditures, give the media and the public information on where candidates received their campaign money and where it is being spent. Board hearings are held if suspected or actual violations of the Campaign Financing Act occur. The Board is authorized to levy fines and turn over evidence of wrongdoing to local prosecutors.

Since the State Board is the only organization that has statewide jurisdiction, it is in the unique position of recognizing the differences in election terminology and procedures in various parts of the state. This statewide overview makes it possible for the Board to gather information and offer recommendations to the General Assembly and the Election Laws Commission to simplify and bring uniformity to the election process.

The Board is an 8-member, bipartisan panel consisting of four Republicans and four Democrats, two of each party from Cook County and two of each party from Downstate. Day-to-day agency operations are handled by a full-time, professional staff in Springfield and Chicago offices.

The State Board of Elections is an independent state agency that was provided for by the 1970 Illinois Constitution to supervise the registration of voters and the administration of elections throughout the state.

Illinois elects more than 40,000 public officials and has well over 6,000 units of local government in the state - more than any other state. A major objective of the State Board is to make election procedures uniform throughout the state so that every voter and every governmental unit has access to the same information and the same rules concerning election procedures.

The Board's supervision of elections in the state not only covers Election Day activities, but all activities prior to and subsequent to every election. The State Board is regularly called upon for guidance and the Board is constantly in the process of collecting information, providing educational materials and programs, and acquiring knowledge necessary to simplify and improve election procedures for Illinois citizens who comprise what is one of the busiest electorates in the country.

State law requires that the Board meet at least once per month. Meetings are held in the Springfield and Chicago offices, rotated between the two on a monthly basis. Special meetings and hearings are often necessary.

Elections are administered locally by the state's 108 election authorities. These are the county clerks in 100 counties, two county election commission and 6 municipal election commissions. These local authorities are a very important part of Illinois' election process. As part of their many responsibilities they handle local voter registration programs, train election judges, find polling places, arrange for the printing of ballots, oversee Election Day activities, and supervise the vote count at the local level.

Created by the Illinois General Assembly in 1973, the Board's purpose is to serve as the central authority for all Illinois election law, information and procedures in Illinois.

Yes, summary totals are available for all committees, not just those filing electronically.

Yes. The forms may be obtained from the State Board of Elections or they may be downloaded from the Campaign Disclosure Forms section of our website.

Yes. These publications are available from the State Board of Elections. You may download manuals and brochures from our site.

No.

Yes, if certain requirements are met. If a political committee is on file with our office as a political committee, and has no outstanding civil penalties or unfiled overdue reports, it may submit a notarized raffle application to the Board for approval in order to conduct a raffle. The License Application to Conduct a Raffle is available for download. For each raffle held by a committee, a separate Raffle Report must be filed to document the gross receipts, expense, and net proceeds from the raffle.

Corporations and unions may contribute from their treasuries in amounts not to exceed established contribution limits and have no filing obligations. However, if political contributions are solicited by the corporations and unions, filing obligations apply once the $5,000 threshold is met.

If such a committee exceeds the $5,000 filing threshold, it must file a D-1 Statement of Organization with the Illinois State Board of Elections. It is not required to file any other disclosure documents.

Yes, as of January 1, 2011, contribution limits are in effect for all political committees registered with the Illinois State Board of Elections. The limits vary based upon the type of political committee, and if a candidate political committee, the office sought.

The Board no longer conducts regularly scheduled training sessions, but staff is available to work with anyone one-on-one upon request. For more information contact the State Board of Elections.

Yes, a web-based electronic filing program (IDIS 3.0) is available at no cost and may be accessed through the Board website.

All disclosure reports may be viewed in either the Chicago or Springfield offices. Reports may also be obtained by mail by contacting either office. In addition, all reports, statements, and documents filed on paper beginning January 1, 2009 are being scanned and may be viewed on the Board website.

The entire amount is reported as a contribution from the original source, not from the fundraising entity; any charge for the use of the service provided shall be reported separately as an expenditure.

Yes, if he spends more than $5,000.

Yes, voluntary electronic filing is encouraged.

Yes, the data is available in a searchable format. It may be accessed in a number of ways by selecting from the different search options available. Search tips are provided for each type of search. In addition, all itemized receipts for statewide candidates, legislative candidates, and legislative leadership committees for the period from July 1, 1994 through December 31, 1998, may be searched.

Contribution and expenditure data may be downloaded in either a Tab-Delimited Text File or XML file. The data is also available at no cost from the Board on cdrom.

IDIS is primarily a record-keeping and reporting program. Campaign management software is available for purchase from several private vendors.

It is a voluntary statement that candidates and political committees may file prior to an election stating that they will conduct a positive campaign. State candidates file it with the Board of Elections. Local candidates file it with their local county clerk. The Code of Fair Campaign Practices is available for download.

Electronic filing is required for all political committees that during a reporting period (i) had at any time a balance or an accumulation of contributions of $10,000 or more, (ii) made aggregate expenditures of $10,000 or more, or (iii) received loans of an aggregate of $10,000 or more. Once a committee exceeds the threshold that requires it to report electronically, it must continue thereafter to report electronically until it dissolves, whether or not its accumulation, receipts or expenditures fall beneath the levels set by statute for mandatory electronic filing.

Any individual, trust, partnership, committee, association, corporation, or any other organization or group of persons which receives or spends more than $5,000 on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate or question of public policy, meets the definition of a political committee and must comply with all provisions of the Illinois Campaign Financing Act, including the filing of campaign disclosure reports. The $5,000 threshold does not apply to political party committees. In addition, any entity other than a natural person that makes expenditures of any kind in an aggregate amount of more than $3,000 during any 12-month period supporting or opposing a public official or candidate must organize as a political committee.

Contact your local election authority. Contact Information can be found here.

Yes. Visit https://ova.elections.il.gov/RegistrationLookup.aspx

Yes. Under federal law, citizens may apply to register to vote by mailing in an application.   More...

• Must Be a United States Citizen
• Must Be at least 18 years of age by Election Day
• Must have been a resident of the precinct at least 30 days prior to Election Day

Two forms of identification with at least one showing your current residence address is needed when you register in-person.   More...

If you changed your name more than 27 days before the election and did not re-register, you cannot vote - unless you live in the same precinct.   More...

"Grace Period" Registration is an extension of the period of time for a voter to register to vote, or to update their registration information.   More...

As soon as you receive a voter ID card in the mail, you can consider yourself registered.   More...

Registration is open year around except during the 27 day period prior to an election and during the 2 day period after each election (1 day after in Chicago).

• County Clerk's Office
• Board of Election Commissioner's Office
• City and Village Offices
• Township Offices
• Precinct Committeeman
• Schools
• Public Libraries
• Military Recruitment Offices

More Places to Register to Vote

• Some Labor Groups
• Some Civic Groups
• Some Corporations

Elections are administered locally by the state's 108 election authorities. These are the county clerks in 100 counties, two county election commission and 6 municipal election commissions. These local authorities are a very important part of Illinois' election process. As part of their many responsibilities they handle local voter registration programs, train election judges, find polling places, arrange for the printing of ballots, oversee Election Day activities, and supervise the vote count at the local level.