By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – Gov. J.B. Pritzker again said that temporarily suspending the state’s automatic voter registration program wasn’t necessary despite a programming error that led to more than 500 people who said they weren’t U.S. citizens being improperly registered to vote.
State officials have said the programming error was fixed in December.
Republicans have called for a temporary suspension.
Pritzker said he supported having hearings to get to the bottom of the programming errors that lead to people being improperly registered to vote. However, he reiterated what he said last week about a possible suspension. The governor said didn’t think the program should be suspended because the glitch had been fixed.
Pritzker said the improperly registered voters were still being reviewed “because it’s not clear right now whether the reason that occurred was because of a mistake, a mistake by them or some intention on their part.”
Pritzker spoke Monday about funding for programs to keep local election secure from cyber intrusions. The Illinois State Board of Elections was hacked in 2016. No votes were changed, but it sparked the need for more cybersecurity.
Pritzker said the state got $50 million from the federal government to keep local election secure.
“Our state officials have already begun their preparations to thoroughly assess the best use of these funds with input from local election authorities for the 2020 elections and beyond,” the governor said.
State officials have been working with local elections authorities to implement good “cyber hygiene” to keep the election infrastructure secure, Pritzker said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, joined Pritzker and urged more awareness about cybersecurity for not just local election authorities, but local candidates.
“Across this country we need to be vigilant because the Russians were here, the Russians never left and they’ll be with us leading up to this election,” Quigley said.
Last week, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, stood with statehouse Republicans calling for the automatic voter registration program to be suspended. He said he’s not against automatic voter registration. However, he said it needed to be implemented properly. He said elected officials aren’t the ones affected by the mishap.
“It’s those individuals who were erroneously categorized in a certain way by a government computer system that in some cases could impact their ability to still remain in this country,” Davis said.
An Illinois House hearing is scheduled to address the issue Thursday.
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