The Supreme Court of Illinois has a system unique among state supreme courts in which it elects its justices from
electoral districts through partisan elections. Illinois is one of 21 U.S. states that holds popular elections of its supreme court justices. Of those states, it is one of only six that do so through partisan elections, and Illinois is currently the only U.S. state that ties its supreme court judgeships to geographic divisions (electoral districts). In order to take office, judges are required to be U.S. citizens, members of the
state bar, and resident in the district from which they are elected or appointed. Justices run in a general election for a 10-year term. At the end of the initial term, they may run in a (
non-partisan)
retention election where they must receive 60% of the vote to be retained for continuing terms of ten years. When a vacancy occurs mid-term, the Supreme Court itself appoints a new justice. The appointed justice must run in the next partisan election (including
primaries) that is more than 60 days from their appointment for a 10-year term to hold the seat. The court elects the chief justice from among its members for a three-year term. Illinois' first constitution (in effect from 1841 until 1848) had supreme court justices appointed by the state legislature. The framers of the first state constitution had opted for the legislature to have this authority rather than the governor out of concerns of "executive tyranny". However, the citizens grew displeased with this solution after legislative
Democrats engaged in a
court packing scheme in 1841. Illinois' second constitution (in effect from 1848 until 1870) replaced the appointment of judges by the legislature with the
direct election of judges. At the constitutional convention of 1847, delegates decided to remove the legislature's power to appoint judges by moving to direct election of judges, in part out of a view that this strengthened the
separation of powers. Additionally, the direct election of judges was a popular principal of the
Jacksonian democracy movement that was popular at the time. The judiciary established by the 1848 constitution had three justices each elected strong single-member
electoral districts. The constitution permitted the option for the state legislature to eliminate the districts, and instead hold
at-large elections of justices. However, due to Chicago's exponential population growth, members of the state legislature preferred to retain geographic districts viewing it as preserving the voting power of downstate Illinois in the election of Supreme Court justices. While partisan elections were retained by the 1962 amendment, this was augmented so that after their initial election to the court, incumbent judges seeking re-election would be subjected to retention elections rather than competitive partisan elections.
In December 1970, alongside the vote on whether to adopt the current (fourth) state constitution, voters were given a referendum on whether (if adopted) the constitution should retain the popular election of judges, or instead provide for the appointment judges through
Missouri Plan-style "merit selection". Voters opted to retain the popular election of judges. ==Districts==