Democratic Lawmakers Push For Bill To Stop Crosscheck System
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Several Democratic lawmakers are pushing a bill that would stop the State of Illinois from using what they say is a voter verification system that has serious security flaws.
State Senator Kwame Raoul is sponsoring legislation to pull the state out of participation in what is called the crosscheck system, used to purge the voter rolls of supposedly invalid voters. But, Raoul said there are problems. WBBM's Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports.
"Crosscheck can be used to not valid voters off the roles," Raoul said.
Even more troubling, said Senator Bill Cunningham, is that voters' personal information is vulnerable when the information is shared with other states.
"It's clear that a novice computer hacker can find their way into the voter files of Illinois voters because of the crosscheck system. That needs to end," Cunnigham said.
Representative Ann Williams said even the other states have shown sloppy handling of security.
"They don't have the equipment, or the ability, or the resources to protect the data like a private company would, and you see even private companies like Equifax are incredibly vulnerable," said Rep. Williams. "But there are emails being sent back and forth which contain passwords and secure information."
The State Board of Elections, the lawmakers said is deadlocked over dropping out of the program, so lawmakers are acting.
