How to use value returned by ajax

[dubsqd]

default.php

<script type="text/javascript">
function showSalespersons(str)
{
if (str=="" || str==0)
  {
  document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML="";
  return;
  } 
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
  {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
  xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
  }
else
  {// code for IE6, IE5
  xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
  }
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
  {
  if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
    {
    document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
    }
  }
xmlhttp.open("GET","components/com_elog/views/elog/tmpl/getsalespersons.php?q="+str,true);
xmlhttp.send();
}
</script>

<?php
$db =& JFactory::getDBO();
$query = "SELECT * FROM #__elog_dealers";
$db->setQuery($query);
$dealers = $db->loadObjectList();
?>

<h1>Remove Salesperson</h1>
<form action="index.php?option=com_elog&view=elog&layout=deletesalesperson" method="post" name="deletesalesperson">
<table>	
<tr>
	<td>Dealer:</td>
	<td>
			<select name="dealerid" style="width: 200px" onChange="showSalespersons(this.value)">
          <?php
            echo "<option value=\"0\"></option>";
            foreach($dealers as $dealer) {
              echo "<option value=\"".$dealer->id."\">".$dealer->name."</option>";
            }
          ?>
        </select>
        </form>
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
  	<td>Salesperson:</td>
  	<td><div id="txtHint"><b>Please select a dealer. Salespersons will be listed here.</b></div></td>
  </tr>
</table>

 

 

getsalespersons.php

<?php
$q=$_GET["q"];
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","root","");
if (!$con)
  {
  die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
  }
mysql_select_db("elog", $con);
$sql = "SELECT * FROM jos_elog_salespersons WHERE dealerid = '".$q."' ORDER BY name ASC";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
echo "<select name=\"salespersons\" style=\"width: 200px\">";
echo "<option value=\"0\"></option>";
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
  {
    echo "<option value=\"".$row['id']."\">".$row['name']."</option>";
  }
echo "</select>";
mysql_close($con);
?>

 

 

My question is pretty simple. I don't know why but when I put the <div id="txtHint"> inside the form it doesn't work. If I put it outside the form it works fine. The thing is I need to use the value selected by the user in the salespersons drop down in the form. Is there any way I can do that? Thanks in advance.