Illinois Discloses New Problems With Voter Registration

CHICAGO (AP) -- Illinois elections officials disclosed fresh problems Wednesday with the state's automatic voter registration program, saying at least one eligible voter who declined to register to vote was signed up anyway.

The program is already under fire for mistakenly registering over 500 people who indicated they weren't U.S. citizens, of which 15 people voted in 2018 and 2019 elections. Officials in the Illinois secretary of state's office said at least eight of the people have long voting histories and were likely U.S. citizens, leaving seven voters in question. The individuals involved were applying for standard drivers' licenses at secretary of state's offices.

Details were scarce on the new issues, disclosed at a State Board of Elections meeting.

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Brenda Glahn, an attorney with the secretary of state, said it appeared several registrations of eligible voters who declined to be registered were wrongly sent to election officials. At least one voter was registered. The problems stem from those applying for a REAL ID, which requires proof of citizenship,

"We are researching what is causing that issue," she said. "We don't have a whole lot of information to provide at this time."

Automatic voter registration was signed into law in Illinois in 2017 with bipartisan support. But implementation has lagged behind schedule for the complex program that involves different processes depending on the type of identification a person applies for.

Republicans have called to suspend the program, but Democrats who run the state have no plans to do so. Government watchdog and immigrant rights groups have also expressed concerns about voter integrity and unintended consequences for immigrants. It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in U.S. elections. The consequence can be deportation.

Six good government groups — who were concerned about the early delays in the program — sent a legal letter to Secretary of State Jesse White this week demanding answers about the changes.

"Our coalition's attempts to engage the Secretary of State's office in a process of accountability and transparency have been stonewalled time and again," Jay Young, Executive Director for Common Cause Illinois, said in a statement. "'They've given us no way to verify the few claims they've made about fixing AVR."

Secretary of State legal adviser Nathan Maddox said a programming error involving coding led to the mistaken registrations.

"I have no excuse," he said at the meeting "It is a serious mistake and we deeply regret it.''

The registrations were for people who visited secretary of state offices between July 2018 and December 2019. The secretary of state's office, a key player in automatic voter registration, discovered the error last month and contacted election officials. The office publicly acknowledged the error earlier this month.

Elections officials speculated that many of the people mistaken checked a "no'' box on an electronic key pad asking if they were citizens when they meant to exit the system. Secretary of state officials said they're looking into adding an "exit" button.

Elections officials have canceled 371 of the 545 mistaken voter registrations in the seven counties involved. In assessing the damage, there have been disagreements over the numbers. Earlier this week, state election officials said there were three outstanding voters in Chicago, while city election officials said it was two. Neither could explain the discrepancy. Election officials confirmed Thursday that there are two voters in question in the city.

A legislative hearing on the topic is planned for Thursday in Springfield.

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