You've got months to register to vote in the primary race for president. But if you wait until the last minute you can still participate in the election --- after an experimental run, Illinois law now permanently has same-day voter registration.
The law allows voters to register on election day at any local precinct. Republican Representative Mark Batinick of Plainfield says how the program is set up doesn't make sense given the budget troubles municipalities and the state are facing.
"When you have it at every precinct, you don't know where these people are going to show up. It's gonna slow the line for people who have done the right thing and registered to vote in advance. I don't know why the line should be slowed down for somebody who took the time to do the right thing and registered to vote early."
Batinick is sponsor of legislation that would say that in places like Cook and the collar counties --- only *one*, centralized same-day voter registration location would be required for every hundred thousand residents. Batinick says it'd save money and be easier to promote. But his idea hasn't advanced at all in the Democratic-controlled Illinois House.
