The Socialist Equality Party is collecting 5,000 electronic signatures to place Joseph Kishore and Norissa Santa Cruz on the presidential ballot for the November general election ballot in the state of Illinois.

Sign our petition today! (Illinois voters only)

A US district court has ruled that third parties and independent candidates can gather signatures electronically this year, due to the state shutdown and social distancing measures implemented in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The number of signatures required has also been reduced from 25,000.

The ballot access rules are still deeply undemocratic. The SEP must collect far greater than 2,500 signatures in anticipation of challenges from the capitalist parties. In the past, the Illinois Democratic Party has made a concerted effort to keep the SEP off the ballot, conducting a line-by-line examination of the hundreds of petition signatures.

Signing the petition does not mean that you are voting for the candidate. It only assures the democratic right of the SEP to be on the ballot and the democratic rights of residents of Illinois to vote for the SEP candidates.

WSWS readers can help gather the 5,000 or more signatures needed.

• Registered voters in Illinois should sign the petition and encourage friends, family, coworkers and community members to sign it as well, if they are eligible.
  
  
• Circulate the SEP petition among Illinois residents. Any legal US citizen over the age of 18 may help to circulate the petition. (You need not be a registered voter to circulate the petition.)
  
  
• Help us gain electors. The ballot access effort also requires 20 electors who are Illinois residents over the age of 18, registered to vote in the state and who have not already signed a ballot access petition for a third party candidate in the general election. Electors do not have any official responsibilities unless the party wins a plurality of the vote. If you are eligible and willing to serve as an elector, please contact us.
  
  
• Make a donation to the SEP election campaign to help us promote this campaign.

In order to sign the Illinois ballot access petition and/or serve as an elector, you must be a registered voter in Illinois over the age of 18 and you must not have signed a petition to put a third party candidate on the ballot in the general election. If you are an Illinois resident and not yet registered to vote, you can register online. After you register, please sign and circulate the SEP petition!

On the ballot access effort, presidential candidate Joseph Kishore explained, “This is an extraordinary election. It is taking place under conditions of pandemic, the homicidal back-to-work campaign of the ruling elite, mass unemployment, and the eruption of protests internationally. Amid growing social anger, the population as a whole is moving to the left. The so-called choice between the two representatives of financial oligarchy must be rejected.

“I urge all residents of Illinois to sign this petition to place Norissa and me on the ballot. Workers need their own party that represents their interests and fights for the social rights of the working class.”

SEP 2020 Vice Presidential candidate Norissa Santa Cruz said, “All of the major issues that society faces today, from the threat of world war, to climate change, state violence, and the pandemic, these are all global issues. There is absolutely nothing that can be solved on a national basis. Our campaign is directed not just at the working class and youth in the US, but towards global youth and workers who must organize together to wage a united struggle against the horrors of capitalism.”

The SEP is taking measures to get on the ballot in other states and will announce initiatives as they begin. To sign up for the SEP mailing list and to get involved, visit socialism2020.org.

Put the Socialist Equality Party on the ballot in Illinois! Sign and circulate our petition today!