Special Senate Election A Go

Get ready for a confusing Election Day here in Illinois. Gov. Quinn gave the O.K. to a special election for the U.S. Senate seat that's been the subject of much consternation for almost two years and could be one of the reasons a former governor gets thrown behind bars. Voters will cast two ballots on November 2: one to elect a temporary Senator who will be in place until January 2011 when the officially elected Senator takes over.

Attorneys and a judge are trying to work who exactly will be allowed to run as there's not enough time for a primary. There's a good chance that the candidates currently slated for the general election will simply fill in those spots. This would the (very small) possibility of a scenario in which, say, Mark Kirk wins the special election but Alexi Giannoulias wins the general election. All this just to undo the screw-job to the state that was Blago's appointment of Roland Burris to the seat. Awesome.