Illinois lawmakers should move the state’s primary to June for good

The Illinois General Assembly got something right … for the wrong reason.

The temporary move of the Illinois primary to June 2022 should be made permanent. Here’s why:

For one, our election season is too long. Starting to gather petition signatures in December for a March primary begins the formal process 11 months prior to the general election.

Second, the Illinois primary rarely if ever has had any influence over the outcome at either party’s nominating convention. Third, the rest of the nation should follow Illinois and move primaries earlier than June to that month, cutting the national election season by several months.

Nevadans wants to become the first in the nation next primary season. Let them, but let them learn that later primaries are better for the nation.

When I was able to vote for the first time — the voting age was 21 way back then — the Illinois primary was in mid-June. It was moved to March in the late ‘60s in the hope that we would have a more significant role in nominating president candidates.

It didn’t work then. So let’s keep our primary back in June — where it belongs.

Bob Manewith, West Ridge

GOP is right about Prisoner Review Board

In regard to the article “Republicans irked over handling of appointments to Prisoner Review Board” (June 1): I’m generally no friend of the Republican Party, but GOP legislators have a point when they note that the state constitution requires members of the Prisoner Review Board to be approved by the state Senate within a certain time frame.

The news story explains that Gov. J.B. Pritzker appointed the current board in 2019. However, by “withdrawing” and then reappointing the 10 board members days later, the governor managed to circumvent the legislative approval timetable. A Pritzker spokesperson describes this devious maneuver as a “routine process,” designed to give the state Senate “more time to consider the appointments.”

Just how many years do our well-paid, staffed-up state senators need to weigh mid-level appointees? And when the opposition party calls out the governor for gaming the system, does this really constitute “political grandstanding”?

I hope I’m not the only reader disturbed by the Democrats’ contention that violating the state constitution is okay — and challenging that violation wrong — because in Springfield, flouting the rules is a “routine process.”

Hugh Iglarsh, Skokie

An elected CPS board won’t solve anything

Those who think an elected school board for Chicago Public Schools will solve everything evidently have not noticed that elected aldermen rarely solve anything.

Don Anderson, Oak Park