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WNIJ and NPR offer special coverage of Election 2016. WNIJ News field reporters and NPR editors nationwide update election news all night.Links to Race ResultsFollow the NPR Live Election BlogLocal County-By-County Election Results

Independent Congressional Candidate Is Off The Ballot Again But Continuing His Court Appeal

Central Illinois physician David Gill lost another battle in his fight to become an independent Congressional candidate.  

He says it’s not fair that independents like him have to gather nearly 15 times as many signatures as Democrats and Republicans. Gill fell short, but successfully convinced a federal judge that he should be on the ballot anyway.

Then, higher-ranking appeals-court judges overturned that order, which led the Illinois State Board of Elections  to formally remove Gill from the ballot in the 13th Congressional District.

“We’re not done yet," his lawyer, Sam Cahnman, said after the hearing. "This is not the last stage of this scenario."

Cahnman already has asked the federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling. He says Gill could ultimately appeal to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, who’s responsible for matters in Illinois.

“I think this year, especially, people have expressed distaste with the choices presented by the two major parties," Cahnman says. "I can’t remember an election when people were more upset by the two Republican and Democratic presidential candidates."

Brian Mackey formerly reported on state government and politics for NPR Illinois and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. Before that, he was A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
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