Primary elections will be moved to back to the third week in March after a two-year experiment with an early February primary.
Gov. Pat Quinn, flanked by legislators from both parties, signed Senate Bill 355 today into law to push the primary back for 2012 and beyond. The move comes after poor turnout during last month's primary.
"It showed the exercise of democracy in making sure that we have as many people as possible participate in our elections," Quinn said at a Statehouse news conference after signing the bill. "Democracy is not a spectator sport. It involves everyone."
Primaries were moved to February in 2007 with bipartisan support in advance of the 2008 presidential primary election, which benefited then-Sen. Barack Obama's presidential run.
State Capitol Bureau
