CHICAGO (WLS) — Five open congressional seats could be a driving force for higher than usual voter turnout for the March primary this year.

But there are some other factors that could also play a role in a more engaged electorate.

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The Chicago Board of Elections records show that the average turnout for the past five midterm primaries has been just over 26 percent, meaning the vast majority of registered voters don’t even bother to cast a ballot.

The League of Women Voters thinks it could be much better this year.

Early voting for the primary does not begin for nearly three weeks, but already there are indications that more voters will go to the polls this spring than usual.

“We are seeing the public engaged in politics like never before, at least in my lifetime. For better or worse, politics has become our national entertainment,” said Becky Simon, president of the Illinois League of Women Voters.

Simon says the No Kings rallies last October across the state are one indicator to her that people are politically aware and interested.

“When I see that many people turning out, taking time out of their day to go and march in public, that tells me they’re going to turn up at the polls this spring,” Simon said.

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“I think, for the Democratic Party and Democratic Party voters, the Trump factor is going to be at play. That’s going to be major. There are a lot of people that had to deal with Trump’s policies and with Trump’s direction, and they’re gonna want to see change,” ABC7 Chicago political analyst Laura Washington said.

This election also has a number of important congressional seats up for grabs, drawing a lot of interest.

For the open U.S. Senate seat, there are 10 Democrats on the ballot and six Republicans.

In the four open House seats, all in Democrat-controlled districts around Chicago, there are between eight and 15 Democratic candidates running.

“People are going to be excited about that. People are going to be focused on all those races. That’s going to bring up interest and get more people out to the polls,” Washington said.

Four years ago, the statewide voter turnout in the primary was under 22%, meaning that nearly four out of every five registered voters did not cast a ballot.

“If I were a betting person, and I’m not, I would aim for 35 to 40% for the spring, fingers crossed,” Simon said.

There is still time to request a mail-in ballot for those who want to, and the Chicago Board of Elections will begin sending those out on Feb. 5.

The primary is March 17.

There will be a new early voting super site in the Loop.

It’s at 137 S. State St., which is at State and Adams streets.

This will replace the super site at Clark and Lake streets, which was converted to a REAL ID site.

Downtown Chicago early voting for the March primary starts on Feb. 12.

An Iowa Republican lawmaker wants to pursue a study on absorbing counties in Illinois, where a secessionist movement has grown fueled by divisions over the Prairie State’s policy direction.

A proposal from Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, House File 2141, would establish an “Iowa-Illinois boundary adjustment committee” to consider whether to move the dividing line between the two states by transferring one or more Illinois counties along the Iowa border to the Hawkeye State.

Collins said the bill would primarily look at all counties that along the Mississippi River.

“As somebody that represents really a district that’s right along the border and along the Mississippi River, I know many folks on both sides of the river, and I know there’s a lot of folks in the high-tax state of Illinois that’s now basically supporting career criminals,” Collins said. “They would love to be Iowa residents, and many of them have taken the steps to actually move to the state of Iowa.”

If advanced, Iowa would follow in the footsteps of Indiana, where Gov. Mike Braun in 2025 signed a law creating a commission to explore the possibility of annexing parts of Illinois. That passed after more than 30 Illinois counties voted on nonbinding referendums to secede from the Democratic-led state of Illinois over differences in policy and political ideology with Chicago.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat eyeing a run for the White House in 2028, had called Indiana’s legislation a “stunt.”

“I’ll just say Indiana is a low-wage state that doesn’t protect workers, a state that does not provide health care for people when they’re in need, and so I don’t think it’s attractive for anybody in Illinois where wages are higher where the standard of living is higher, and we do provide health care for people in need,” he said.

This is not the first Iowa proposal looking to take a neighboring state’s counties.

Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, introduced a bill in 2025 proposing to enter into negotiations with Iowa’s northern neighbor and allow Iowa to buy nine southern Minnesota counties. It never received a subcommittee hearing.

Under Collins’ bill, the boundary adjustment study committee would be made up of:

• Six individuals from the state of Iowa who are not lawmakers or appointees of the governor.
• No more than four members of the same political party.
• Five individuals from Illinois appointed under Illinois state law.