Peoria County voters who were planning to cast early ballots this week in the March primary election are going to have to wait.
The start of early voting and voting by mail is being delayed, according to Tom Bride, the executive director of the Peoria County Election Commission. Early voting was to begin Thursday, when ballots also were to be mailed.
The election eligibility of state Rep. Scott Drury, a Democratic candidate for Illinois attorney general, is causing the delay, according to a news release Bride's office issued Wednesday.
Last week, a Cook County Circuit Court judge ruled Drury off the ballot. The problem appears to be whether a statement of economic interest Drury filed last year from his race for state representative also can apply to his attorney-general candidacy.
Drury appealed the court's decision, and an emergency stay was granted. Briefs for the appeal are due Friday, according to Bride's news release.
"The ballot must be finalized and tested before the start (of) voting or we face the possibility of remaking every ballot voted once the court case is finished," Bride stated.
"I don't think a delay of a few days will be that much of an issue, as (we) will still be mailing the ballots over 30 days before the election, and early voting the first week or two is traditionally very slow."
Bride's office has received about 200 vote-by-mail applications. Balloting is to begin once Drury's case is resolved.
The election commission office, at 542 SW Adams St. in Peoria, was to be the early-voting polling place open Thursday through March 19. Early voting also is to be conducted March 5-18 at Illinois Central College North Campus in Peoria.
The primary election is March 20.
Drury, who is from the Chicago suburb of Highwood, is among seven Democratic candidates seeking to replace incumbent Lisa Madigan, who is not seeking a fifth four-year term.
Drury was the only Democrat not to vote for longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan in his leadership election last year. Mike Madigan is Lisa Madigan's father.
"I have instilled a fear in Mike Madigan that has not been seen during his reign in Springfield," Drury said in a statement after the initial court decision.
Others in the Democratic primary include former Gov. Pat Quinn; state Sen. Kwame Raoul of Chicago; and Nancy Rotering, the mayor of Highland Park, which borders Highwood.
Running in the Republican primary are DuPage County Board member Gary Grasso and Champaign-Urbana attorney Erika Harold.