Illinois Driver's License Facilities Reopen After Daylong Computer Glitch
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Business was back to normal at Illinois driver's license facilities on Thursday, a day after a computer glitch shut down offices statewide.
People started lining up around 7:30 a.m. outside the Illinois Secretary of State's office at 9901 S. King Dr. Many, like Robert Hicks, had visited Wednesday, only to be told they couldn't get a driver's license, state ID card, or license plate sticker, because computers were down all day.
"I came about 8 o'clock yesterday, and the computers was down. Very disappointed, because they didn't give us no information, as far as it being on, knowing when they're going to have the computers back up," he said. "Then you had to keep on coming back."
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Hicks said he returned twice on Wednesday, only to find computers still were not working. Others said they sat around for hours, hoping the system would be fixed.
Some workers tried to use pen and paper to fill out paperwork for renewing driver's licenses, or other business, to speed things up once computers were back online.
Those who were turned away Wednesday were given courtesy cards that would allow them to jump to the front of the line whenever they show up after computers have been fixed.
The problem started when offices opened at all 183 offices statewide on Wednesday, after the Veterans Day holiday. IBM tackled the problem for hours, but couldn't fix it right away, adding to frustrations. The computer systems were back online at all facilities by 8 p.m. Wednesday.
The Secretary of State's office has posted an apology on its website, and informing users its computers are operational again.
Spokesman Dave Druker said a report explaining the cause of the outage should be available later Thursday, but it does not appear it was the result of someone hacking into the system.
