Election official says Hastert special election a 'nightmare'

Organizing two special elections to fill the congressional seat vacated by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has been a "logistical nightmare," a DuPage County election official said Wednesday.

But Robert Saar, executive director of the county's election commission, said now that an abbreviated timetable has received a federal judge's approval, he's confident voters will feel they're being treated equally across the congressional district.

Hastert, a Republican, resigned in November from his seat representing the 14th Congressional District, which stretches west from Chicago to the Mississippi River. During the upcoming Feb. 5 primary, voters in the district will cast two separate ballots: one in a special primary to choose a candidate in a race to fill the rest of Hastert's term, which runs until January 2009, and another in the general primary to replace him.

The special election to choose someone to fill out Hastert's term will be held March 8. The general election to replace him is in November.