Whether or not you voted in the March 15 primaries, there is still plenty of political movement to pay attention to on local, state and national levels.

This year, as the primary elections took place during Eastern’s spring break, many students and others who were registered here ended up voting early.

In Coles County, 12,866 ballots were cast out of 28,751 total voters, a turnout of 44.7 percent.

Of the ballots cast, 10,612 were cast on Election Day, and the rest were done via early voting, vote by mail and grace period voting.

Those who voted early had to make sure they had their research done and preferred candidates selected all before March 15, but nonetheless they participated in the democratic process and their choices were counted.

But even those who may have missed their chances to participate in the primaries should keep some things in mind moving ahead into the rest of the year.

For Eastern’s legislative district, both incumbent Republican representatives earned their party’s nomination, Rep. Reggie Phillips and Sen. Dale Righter.

Anyone who picked up a Democratic ballot would not have been able to select a candidate for those positions, as no Democratic challengers were running in this election.

Regardless of whether you voted for or against them, or not at all, the fact remains that Phillips and Righter are the ones in office for the time being, and they are the ones who are tasked with representing our interests.

Everyone in the community can take some time to pay attention to their promises and goals, how they vote in Springfield, and whether or not they are helping things to progress during the unfortunate budget stalemate our state has been plagued with for the past 10 months.

It does not have to be near the time of an election to contact local representatives and let them know what you think about their decisions as well as what you believe they should be fighting for in the General Assembly.

For United States Senator, Democratic nominee Tammy Duckworth is set to run against Republican nominee and incumbent Mark Kirk in the general elections in November.

For United States Representative, incumbent John Shimkus beat fellow Republican challenger Kyle McCarter in the primaries, with no Democrats running for the spot in the primaries.

As for the presidential election, Hillary Clinton emerged victorious in Illinois’ Democratic primary, while Donald Trump took the Republican primary.

However, paying attention to the other states’ primaries and reading up on all candidates’ statements and actions leading up to November will be crucial in being an informed voter once the time comes.