The Illinois State Board of Elections says there are fewer people registered to vote this year compared with 2010.

The board said Thursday that there are nearly 7.3 million register voters in Illinois for the March 20 primary election. The state's voter registration database shows that's about 318,000 fewer voters than the 7.6 million before the 2010 primary election.

The last time there was a presidential primary in Illinois was 2008. That year there were about 7.3 million registered voters. Turnout was about 41%.

But registration rose by about a half-million voters to nearly 7.8 million before the November 2008 general election, when then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was elected president.