The lawsuit filed by Jerico Matias Cruz against the Illinois State Board of Elections and Kent Sinson in the Appellate Court of Illinois, First Judicial District (Case ID: 1-24-0333) was decided on March 11, 2024. The case revolved around Cruz's disqualification from running for office due to an alleged failure to submit enough signatures for his candidacy.
Cruz, a Democratic Party candidate for the office of representative in Congress for the 5th Congressional District of Illinois, filed his nomination papers on November 24, 2023. Sinson objected to Cruz's nomination on December 11, alleging that Cruz failed to meet the statutory minimum number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot.
The Board issued a decision on January 11, 2024, sustaining Sinson’s objection. It found that Cruz’s petition sheets contained only 806 valid signatures, falling short of the minimum requirement by 162 signatures. Consequently, Cruz's name was not certified for the primary election ballot.
In response to this decision, Cruz sought judicial review. However, his petition was dismissed due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction as he failed to serve Sinson with the petition as required under the Election Code. The plaintiff is seeking a reversal of this dismissal and a reconsideration of his eligibility to run for office.