No. 05-4355 DAVID LEE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. JOHN KEITH, in his official capacity as Chairman of the Illinois State Board of Elections, JESSE SMART, in his official capacity as Vice-Chairman of the Illinois State Board of Elections, WANDA REDNOUR, in her official capacity as a member of the Illinois State Board of Elections, et al., Defendants-Appellees. ____________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. No. 04 C 3042—Jeanne E. Scott, Judge. ____________ ARGUED JUNE 9, 2006—DECIDED SEPTEMBER 18, 2006 ____________

Before RIPPLE, MANION, and SYKES, Circuit Judges. SYKES, Circuit Judge. In 1975 and 1979 Illinois adopted two significant changes to its ballot access laws for inde- pendent candidates. First, the deadline for independents to file nominating petitions was pushed back from 92 days before the November general election to the same deadline that applies to partisan candidates—92 days before the March primary,