When It Comes To Campaigning In Chicago, Signatures Aren’t The Only Barrier

petitions
Eager Chicago politicians and hopeful candidates wrap a line around the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners intake room with voter signatures in hand to get on the 2019 ballot for the upcoming mayoral and aldermanic races. Claudia Morell
petitions
Eager Chicago politicians and hopeful candidates wrap a line around the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners intake room with voter signatures in hand to get on the 2019 ballot for the upcoming mayoral and aldermanic races. Claudia Morell

When It Comes To Campaigning In Chicago, Signatures Aren’t The Only Barrier

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It’s not easy to run for public office in the United States. In some ways it’s even harder to run for mayor of Chicago than, say, governor of Illinois. Candidates need 12,500 valid signatures to run for mayor — that’s more than twice the number needed to take a shot at running the state.

Beyond signatures, candidates need money, infrastructure and a whole lot of support. Stevie Valles of the nonprofit Chicago Votes joins the Morning Shift to talk about how his organization is getting young people excited about participating in democracy and the barriers they’re facing along the way.

GUEST: Stevie Valles, executive director of Chicago Votes

LEARN MORE: Petition challenges: Where 11 mayoral hopefuls stand in fight to stay on ballot (Chicago Sun-Times 12/16/18)