Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday (July 17, 2018) vetoed Senate Bill 2273 from the 100th General Assembly, which would limit the state of Illinois to participation in a single, exclusive interstate voter registration program.

• Click this link to read more about the proposed law and its status.

According to the state website, the bill “provides that the State Board of Elections may enter into an exclusive voter data sharing agreement with a state that: (1) borders Illinois, and (2) does not participate in the Electronic Registration Information Center.”

“One major way that Illinois combats fraudulent voting is through participation in programs that allow cross-referencing voter information from various states to identify where individuals are and are not eligible to vote,” Rauner said in a state of Illinois news release. “This legislation would hinder that effort by prohibiting the state from utilizing any interstate voter registration program other than that provided by the Electronic Registration Information Center, except for limited opportunities to contract with our border states that do not use the ERIC program.”

Rauner said the bill would codify a limitation in state law and “hamstring Illinois’ efforts to combat voter fraud when other safeguards are available to ensure the security, reliability, and appropriate use of any data being shared.”

In the news release, Rauner said the State Board of Elections is best situated to determine the risks associated with a given data sharing program.

The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago).

According to Raoul’s website, the Illinois Board of Elections presently subscribes to two national voter database systems designed to help election authorities identify voters who may be registered in more than one state: the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program and the Electronic Registration Information Center.

Senate Bill 2273 would have removed Illinois from the Crosscheck system but allowed the state to remain in ERIC, Raoul said.

“We have heard from numerous experts that the Crosscheck system is unsafe and that it can be used as a tool to discriminate and suppress voters. There is no reason to continue using this system when we have a better option readily available.”

Raoul said cyber security experts testified to a joint committee last year that the Crosscheck system has several security concerns that make private information easily accessible.

SOURCE: Illinois E-News release, ILGA.gov, www.senatorraoul.com