'Glitch' registers hundreds of non-U.S. citizens to vote in Illinois

Springfield, ILL. — State election officials say a glitch with the state's automatic voter registration system led to nearly 600 non-U.S. citizens being registered to vote in Illinois.

Election officials are calling it an "isolated incident," and canceling the registrations. But a group of Republican lawmakers has called for a hearing with questions about how many non-eligible voters may have already cast ballots.

IL GOP Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement in response:

“The recent reports of non-citizens voting in Illinois is simply unacceptable. The Secretary of State’s failure to competently administer the Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) process in Illinois compromises the integrity of our entire election system.

Mistakes are made, but when it comes to voting, it simply is inexcusable that non-citizens voted in Illinois and potentially affected the outcome of elections across the state. Those in the Secretary of State’s Office who allowed this to happen should be terminated from their employment with the State. Public hearings in the General Assembly should commence immediately, and the AVR program should be temporarily suspended until we get answers.

Voting is a right and a privilege reserved only for U.S. citizens. The American people need to know that their government is upholding, not undermining, that right.”

Senator Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) released the following statement regarding reports that fewer than 600 non-citizens were added to voter rolls due to administrative error:

“There is absolutely no room for administrative error when it comes to properly conducting our election system. Democrats and Republicans came together and unanimously approved automatic voter registration, and we expect it to be done correctly. We need a gaugeable plan of action from the Secretary of State’s office to make sure such errors never happen again. If it takes a Senate committee hearing to get those answers, that’s the course I’ll pursue.”

The State Board of Elections says 574 non-U.S. citizens were mistakenly put in the automatic voter registration system, but only 545 were registered to vote.

Of those 545 people, only 16 voted in elections.

They voted in either the 2018 general election and/or the consolidated primary election in February 2019 and/or the consolidated election in April 2019.

The non-U.S. citizens were registered with 48 different election authorities in Illinois.