Pursuant to the Writ of Election issued by the Governor’s Office, the State Board of Elections today announced the following dates for the filing periods for the Special Election in the 5th Congressional District. The Governor has designated, Tuesday, March 3, 2009 as the date of the Special Primary Election and Tuesday, April 7, 2009 as the date of the Special Congressional Election.

Please note the following filing dates are subject to modification by and are conditioned upon approval by any court action. Petitions must be filed for the Tuesday, March 3, 2009 Special Primary Election in the Board’s Principal office located at 1020 South Spring Street, P. O. Box 4187, Springfield, IL, Monday, January 12 through Monday January 19, 2009 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. excluding Saturday, January 17 and Sunday, January 18, 2009. The Board’s Principal office WILL BE OPEN Monday, January 19, 2009, Martin Luther King’s Birthday, which is the last day to file.

The Independent and New Party candidates’ petition filing period is Tuesday, January 20, 2009 through Tuesday, January 27, 2009, excluding Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25, 2009, for the Tuesday, April 7, 2009 Special Congressional Election, the same day as the 2009 Consolidated Election.

Candidate qualifications, signature requirements, petition filing instructions, forms and important dates for the Special Election in the 5th Congressional District may be accessed on the State Board of Elections’ website.