Voting early next time? Not so fast

SPRINGFIELD -- Thousands of Illinoisans may have "wasted" their primary votes this year by taking advantage of Illinois' early voting laws and supporting candidates who then dropped out before the Feb. 5 election.

The situation highlights a glaring downside to early voting, one that lawmakers may try to address by extending the time voters have to go to the polls early.

This year, both Democrat John Edwards and Republican Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the race for president on Jan. 30, the day before early voting closed in Illinois. By then, thousands of early votes had already been cast.

In fact, while an exact statewide breakdown of early votes is yet not available, it's likely many, if not most, of the 39,001 votes for Edwards and 11,341 for Giuliani were cast before the candidates quit.

In response, state lawmakers are considering extending early voting to the day before elections. Currently, early voting cuts off five days before the election, which gives election officials time to update voter rolls for people who've already voted. Once the vote is cast, it cannot be changed, no matter what happens with the candidates.

Wayne Steger, a politics professor at DePaul University, said early votes for Giuliani and Edwards could be viewed as "wasted."

He said most early voters tend to be people who closely follow elections and are regular voters. So it stands to reason that they would not have cast votes for Giuliani or Edwards if they'd known the candidates were about to, or had, pulled the plug on their campaigns.

State election officials estimate 300,000 Illinoisans cast early and absentee votes for the Feb. 5 primary. The first use of the state's early voting system in 2006 brought in just 170,000.

"It certainly was well-received, and voters are taking advantage of it," said Dan White, executive director of Illinois State Board of Elections.

Early voting was first approved in hopes of boosting turnout by making voting more convenient. Unlike absentee balloting, there's no paperwork to request. Voters simply go to an election office and vote like it was an election day.

That works great for most elections. It's extremely unlikely either the Republican or Democratic presidential nominees will drop out of the race, for instance.

But primaries, especially hotly contested, crowded primaries, present a challenge. One Illinois election expert suggests early voting might not be the best option in such cases.

"For this presidential nominating process, because of its fluidity, if one's going to vote early, they should wait until the possible last moment," advised Ron Michaelson, former director of the state election board who teaches at the University of Illinois' Springfield campus.

Edwards' tally was only 2 percent of the Democratic vote statewide. In the suburbs and Cook County, he received 19,494 votes.

Giuliani's tally was only 1.3 percent of the statewide Republican vote. He received 6,919 votes in the suburban region.

Steger, however, said extending early voting may only further complicate voting. He questioned whether election officials would be able to quickly update voter information to ensure polling place judges would catch someone who'd vote early on a Monday, then show up the next day and try to cast another ballot.

Too early?

This year's election timeline shows why voting early might have been a mistake.

June 20, 2007 - Illinois primary moved to February 5, 2008

Oct. 29, 2007 - First day candidates could file paperwork to get on the Illinois ballot

Nov. 5, 2007 - Last day to file paperwork to get on the Illinois ballot

Jan. 3, 2008 - Iowa caucuses

Jan. 8, 2008 - New Hampshire primary and last day to register to vote in Illinois primary

Jan. 14, 2008 -- Early voting opens in Illinois

Jan. 22, 2008 - Republican Fred Thompson drops out of presidential race

Jan. 30, 2008 - Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat John Edwards drop out of race

Jan. 31, 2008 - Early voting closes in Illinois

Feb. 5, 2008 - Democrat Barack Obama, Republican John McCain carry Illinois' primary. Giuliani and Edwards get more than 50,000 total votes

Feb. 7, 2008 - Republican Mitt Romney drops out of race