Gov. Rauner: No need to leave voter crosscheck program

Vote sign
Most of Illinois’ neighbors are in the program. (WJBC file photo)

By Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is out of time to act on a plan to get Illinois out of a national voter database program, but the governor said he sees no need to exit.

Lawmakers in Springfield, almost exclusively Democrats, voted in the spring to remove Illinois from the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck program. They said the program that compares voter rolls across 26 states, including most of Illinois’ neighbors, is too much of a cybersecurity threat and has the potential to suppress voters.

Democratic candidate for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the risk is too great.

“We are duty-bound to protect our own voters and their data. The right to vote freely and privately is the bedrock of our democracy, and I call on Governor Rauner to sign this bill and get us out of Crosscheck,” Raoul said in a statement.

Rauner said states, not Crosscheck, are in charge of election security.

“From my understanding [Crosscheck] does not contribute to any issue of security,” the governor said.

The state’s voter database was hacked back in 2016. State election officials said the hackers exploited a public portal on the state’s website to get access to voter information. The State Board of Elections has repeatedly said that no votes were changed.

“[Crosscheck’ has nothing to do with cyber attacks or safety or security, that’s a separate issue,” Rauner said. “I don’t see any reason that we should go out of that as a state.”

In Illinois, county election officials regularly compare voters rolls to avoid fraud or dual registrations. Crosscheck is one of two programs that does the same across the country.

Of Illinois’ neighbors, only Wisconsin and Kentucky are not enrolled in Crosscheck. Wisconsin is enrolled in another similar program.

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