In Illinois, now home of the nation's earliest primary elections for federal offices, early voting has begun.
That's right: In the summer of 2007, the Illinois legislature -- controlled by Democrats -- changed the date of Illinois's primary elections, moving them from their traditional third-Tuesday-in-March slot to a much earlier, first-Tuesday-in-February slot, so Illinois primary voters could vote on the same day as almost two dozen other states that had moved up their 2008 presidential primary dates.
The change was made explicitly for the purpose of benefiting home-state Sen. Barack Obama's chances of capturing the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
But once the legislature came into session in 2009, it was somewhat distracted by other ... well, distractions: then-Gov. Blagojevich's indictment for trying to sell an appointment to Obama's seat, then-Gov. Blagojevich's decision to appoint Roland Burris to fill the vacancy created by Obama's victory in the presidential race, then-Gov. Blagojevich's impeachment, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn's installation, continued budget standoffs between Quinn and Assembly Speaker Mike Madigan, etc., etc., etc.
So the Illinois legislature never got around to amending the law and changing the date of its primary elections back to the traditional March date.
The result? Illinois's primary elections will take place on Tuesday, February 2, earlier than any other state.
And with a three-week grace period for early voting, voting has now begun.
The Law of Unintended Consequences rears its ugly head again.
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