The lawsuit filed in 2010 to challenge the ballot access requirements for candidates for citywide office in Chicago is still pending in U.S. District Court. The case is Stone v Board of Election Commissioners, northern district, 10-cv-7727. It challenges the requirement that candidates for citywide office in Chicago need 12,500 valid signatures, to be gathered in 90 days. A further restriction says voters who sign a petition for one candidate for a particular office are not then able to sign a petition for another candidate for the same office.

Chicago has non-partisan city elections, and elects three citywide officers: Mayor, City Clerk, and Treasurer. One of the arguments made by the plaintiffs is that because Illinois only requires 5,000 signatures for a candidate to get on a statewide Illinois partisan primary, there is no state interest in requiring 12,500 signatures to run in the non-partisan citywide offices.

Attorneys for the Board of Elections filed a response brief on November 20, 2012, in support of their motion for summary judgment. The candidate-plaintiffs are hoping the court will permit evidence to be gathered, showing that there is no governmental interest in such a high petition requirement. A ruling could come at any time.