Three quarters of the candidates in Illinois for the U.S. House have signed a loyalty oath to the United States. The optional form, submitted along with ballot paperwork, asks candidates to swear they’re not communists.

LOYALTY OATH: Read it (PDF)

You can rest assured that candidates signing the oath don’t plan to teach or advocate for the overthrow of the government, and that they’re not affiliated with any communist groups or communist-front groups.

The oath used to be mandatory, but a federal court decision four decades ago made it optional. And while communism isn’t much of a campaign topic these days, the loyalty oath is still popular.

The signees, according to the state election board, include 56 current candidates for Congress in Illinois, including all incumbents except for Bobby Rush and Jan Schakowsky.

“As a loyal American I did not submit a loyalty oath because it is an unconstitutional vestige of McCarthyism and a direct violation of the fundamental values that make America great,” Schakowsky explained in a statement.

Three of Illinois’ four state legislative leaders signed the loyalty oath, with Senate President John Cullerton the only exception.

A signed oath was included among the paperwork by two presidential candidates on the ballot in Illinois: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum. The others who filed - President Barack Obama, Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Louisiana Gov. Charles “Buddy” Roemer - did not turn in the loyalty oath.

WHO SIGNED IT? Full list from election board (PDF)

(* indicates incumbent member of Congress)