Judicial Watch recently identified Illinois as one of 11 states with counties that had a greater number of registered voters than eligible-age citizens and has sent a notice of violation with plans to pursue litigation if the state does not address the problem.
Judicial Watch used Election Assistance Commission (EAC) data and the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey to determine the counties had a voter registration that exceeded 100 percent of the eligible population who could register to vote.
“Typically it’s an indication of a problem,” Robert Popper, director of Judicial Watch’s Election Integrity Project, told the Madison County Record. “And we have so many counties where this is a problem, that also suggests that we have a central problem or a problem with the states’ monitoring of the voter roll.”
Judicial Watch claims that a registration of 100 percent or more is strong evidence that the states are not complying with the National Voter Registration Act [NVRA], which requires states to take reasonable measures to maintain voter registration records.
“Complying with the NVRA takes work; it requires the expenditure of money,” Popper said. “Voter rolls can grow corrupted very quickly, in just a couple of years.”
The voter registration in a county can be incorrect due to circumstances such as failing to remove deceased voters from the rolls and voters changing residences.
Illinois and the other states have 90 days to provide documentation and additional information to Judicial Watch to show they are taking steps to start correcting the problem.
Judicial Watch previously sued Indiana, which resulted in statewide actions to update voter information and reform its voter registration maintenance procedures.
“There are hundreds of counties in the United States that show this imbalance,” Popper said. “This is a nationwide problem. We’ve written to 11 states. We’ve identified 105 counties in those states we’re concerned about.”
The 24 counties in Illinois include: Alexander, Bureau, Cass, Clark, Crawford, DuPage, Franklin, Grundy, Hardin, Henderson, Jefferson, Jersey, Massac, McHenry, Mercer, Monroe, Pulaski, Rock Island, Sangamon, Scott, Union, Wabash, Washington and White.
According to Popper, if a county is not on the list, it is simply because it did not have a voter-registration-to-eligible-voter percentage of 100 percent or greater. He said other counties that are 90 percent and up can still be suspicious.
Popper encouraged residents to help Judicial Watch continue holding the states accountable.
“If anyone has any particular issues that they would like to bring to our attention, they should do so,” Popper said.