Special Election to Serve Out U.S. Senate Seat

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn called for the special election Thursday after a recent court ruling found it's required by the constitution and Roland Burris' appointment is only temporary. To avoid the cost of a second election, the vote will happen on the same day as the already scheduled general, November 2nd. So voters will cast two ballots for U.S. Senators that day, one for the upcoming six year term, and one for the few weeks that will remain in the Obama/Burris term.

But there's no time before November 2nd to hold a primary to figure out who will run to be Senator for a month. It's a problem that attorneys and the federal court judge are trying to work out. A likely solution is that the candidates running for the six year term will also run in the special election. Those candidates would include Mark Kirk, Alexi Giannoulias, LeAlan Jones, and the independents who collected more than 25,000 signatures.

An attorney for Burris is fighting against the special election.