Illinois’ election code reads, “Each petition or certificate of nomination shall include” a statement, in which the candidate “swear[s]…that I am not affiliated directly or indirectly with any communist organization.” Further, the candidate should swear that he or she personally does not “directly or indirectly teach or advocate the overthrow” of the federal or state government.You can check out the full oath, or listen to our resident actor, Don Hall, read it:

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Even though it reads like a mandate in the state election code, the oath is clearly marked “optional” by election authorities, the result of the 1972 Communist Party of Illinois v. Ogilvie. Optional or not, the loyalty oath is popular. As Lake County Clerk Willard Helander told me a few months ago, “It certainly looks like apple pie and flag-waving to have [the oath] in there, so many people use it.”

As you can imagine, though, the communist party is not amused. Here’s Illinois organizer John Bachtell.

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The Illinois State Board of Elections tracks which candidates who turn in ballot petitions to the agency (statewide offices, congressional, legislature) also turn in the loyalty oath. Here are some highlights for the 2010 primaries:

• Governor: As of Tuesday, 10 of the 12 candidates had turned in the oath, including all the Democrats. Republican Adam Andrzejewski and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney had not. (see below)
• Lieutenant Governor: 12 of the 13 candidates for this office signed the oath. Only the Green Party’s Don Crawford did not.
• Attorney General: Republican Steve Kim and Democrat Lisa Madigan turned in the oath. Green Party candidate David Black did not.
• Secretary of State: Republican Robert Enriquez and Democrat Jesse White signed the loyalty oath. Green Party candidate Adrian Frost did not.
• Comptroller: The three Democrats and three Republicans signed it. The Green Party’s Erica Schafer did not.
• Treasurer: Democrats Mark Doyle and Robin Kelly signed it, along with Republican Dan Rutherford. The Green Party’s Scott Summers and Democrat Justin Oberman did not.
• U.S. Senate: 11 of the 16 candidates signed the loyalty oath. That’s everyone except Democrats Corey Dabney and David Hoffman, Republicans Tom Kuna and Don Lowery and the Green Party’s LeAlan Jones.

We called Adam Andrzejewski and Rich Whitney to find out their reasons for bucking the trend in the gubernatorial race. Andrzejewski says it was an oversight, which he’d try to address once he found a notary public to witness his signing of the oath. Whitney says he didn’t sign the oath because it is “truly an arcane and anachronistic provision in the election code.” He says he doesn’t “hold communist ideas,” but it shouldn’t be illegal to do so.

To find out which candidates for some other offices signed – and didn’t sign – check out the full list (large PDF) of loyalty oath submissions from the state Board of Elections.

The loyalty oath isn’t the only optional filing for candidates. Check out our recent update on the Code of Fair Campaign Practices.