Section 65 ILCS 5/7-7-11 - Elections of Initial Officers of Consolidated Municipalities(a) The day of the first election of officers of the consolidated municipality shall be the next consolidated election established pursuant to Section 2A-1.1 of The Election Code, as now or hereafter amended, following the consolidation referendum. The day of the first primary election of officers of the consolidated municipality shall be the next consolidated primary election pursuant to Section 2A-1.1 of The Election Code, as now or hereafter amended, following the consolidation referendum.(b) The first election of officers of the consolidated municipality shall be conducted in accordance with The Election Code, as now or hereafter amended, except that the duties of the local election official and boards set forth in The Election Code shall be performed by the officers designated in subsection (c) of this Section and the nominating petitions shall meet the requirements of subsection (d) of this Section. All elections after such first election of officers shall be conducted in accordance with The Election Code, as now or hereafter amended.(c) For the first election of officers of the consolidated municipality, the municipal clerk of one of the consolidating municipalities in which the consolidation ordinance was approved by referendum, who shall be designated by the consolidation ordinance, shall perform the duties required of the local election official by The Election Code. For such first election of officers, the municipal clerks of all of the municipalities in which the consolidation ordinance was approved by referendum shall constitute an electoral board to perform the duties required of the municipal officers electoral board by The Election Code and shall also constitute a canvassing board to perform the duties required of officers charged by The Election Code with the duties of canvassing returns.(d) For the first election of officers of the consolidated municipality, with respect to the number of signatures required by The Election Code for nominating petitions for partisan candidates, the number of qualified primary electors in each consolidating municipality in which the consolidation ordinance was approved by referendum shall be added together to derive a sum which shall be deemed the number of qualified primary electors of the consolidated municipality. For such first election of officers, with respect to the number of signatures required by The Election Code for nominating petitions for independent candidates and candidates of newly formed political parties, the number of voters in each consolidating municipality in which the consolidation ordinance was approved by referendum who voted at the next preceding regular election in each consolidating municipality shall be added together to derive a sum which shall be deemed the number of persons voting in the next preceding election in which the consolidated municipality voted as a unit.(e) The earliest date for circulation of nominating petitions for the first election of officers of the consolidated municipality and the filing date for such petitions shall be as established by The Election Code, as now or hereafter amended; provided, however, that nothing in The Election Code or in this Code shall be construed as preventing the circulation of nominating petitions for such first election prior to the date of the consolidation referendum, so long as the requirements of The Election Code, as now or hereafter amended, relating to the earliest date for such circulation are otherwise met.