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* First some background from a late July article by Capitol News Illinois…
The Trump administration has asked Illinois election officials for a copy of the state’s voter registration database, including sensitive data about individual voters and detailed information about the state’s efforts to scrub ineligible voters from the rolls.
In a letter dated Monday, July 28, lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division also asked for a list of all the election officials in Illinois who were responsible for carrying out federally mandated efforts to keep state’s voter rolls accurate and up to date during a two-year period leading up to the November 2024 elections.
State officials did not immediately comment on the request Tuesday. But David Becker, a former attorney in the DOJ’s voting section who now runs the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the letter is similar to requests filed in multiple other states and that it goes far beyond the Justice Department’s legal authority.
“The Department of Justice asked for the complete voter file for the state of Illinois, including all fields in that file, which is an absolutely huge file that contains so much sensitive data about Illinois citizens, including driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers and dates of birth that the Department of Justice is not entitled to receive and not entitled to demand,” he said in an interview. “They know this. Other states have told them this, and yet they continue to seek to receive this information, citing sections of federal law that don’t apply and don’t require that.”
Click here for the DOJ’s letter.
* I’ve been regularly asking the board for updates since then. From the Illinois State Board of Elections today…
Rich — Attached is our response to the DOJ request for voter date. Also attached is the original request.
We’re providing the voter list that is available to political committees for political purposes and to “a governmental entity for a governmental purpose” under 10 ILCS 5/1A-25(b). We are waiving the $500 fee in this case.
The voter file contains voters’ names, addresses, age when the file is created (not date of birth), voting jurisdictions, voting history (indicating elections in which the voter has voted and, for primary elections, which party’s ballot was selected). A version of this file also is available to the general public on the same fee schedule, but the public version contains only voters’ street names, not their full addresses.
Neither file contains voters’ personal identification information used to verify voter registrations such as drivers license numbers or Social Security numbers.
Information about obtaining the voter file is here.
* The board explained in its letter why it wasn’t including Social Security numbers, Driver’s License or State ID numbers and dates of birth…
Social Security Numbers (SSNs): SSNs are withheld pursuant to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017, Illinois Identity Protection Act, 5 ILCS 179/5 et seq., Illinois Personal Information Protection Act, 815 ILCS 530/1, et seq., and Section 1A-25(c) of the Illinois Election Code, 10 ILCS 5/1A-25(c).
Driver’s License or State ID Numbers (DL or SID numbers): DL and/or SID numbers are withheld pursuant to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2721 et seq., Illinois Personal Information Protection Act, 815 ILCS 530/1, and Section 1A-25(c) of the Illinois Election Code, 10 ILCS 5/1A-25(c).
Dates of Birth (DOBs): DOBs are withheld pursuant to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, and Section 1A-25(c) of the Illinois Election Code, 10 ILCS 5/1A-25(c).
* Back to the DOJ letter…
Please identify the number of registered voters identified as ineligible to vote for the time period of the close of registration for the November 2022 general election through present for each of the following reasons:
1. Non-citizen
2. Adjudicated incompetent
3. Felony conviction
The board’s response…
SBE would greatly appreciate an extension of time until September 10, 2025, to respond to your remaining inquiries, allowing us a fuller opportunity to analyze and answer your requests. Please feel free to reach out with questions.
* From the above Capitol News Illinois story…
The letter also asks for the number of voters identified as ineligible to vote since November 2022 either because they were noncitizens, adjudicated as incompetent, or for felony convictions.
“First, I should say there is no federal law whatsoever that requires states to go through their lists and try to find noncitizens,” Becker said. “But second, I’d note that there’s no evidence that there are any significant numbers of noncitizens on Illinois’ or any other state’s voter lists. So once again, it appears the DOJ is seeking to invent authority that Congress has simply not granted.”
Also, Illinois, like many other states, has no disqualification statute for people “adjudicated incompetent.” And convicted felons who have done their time are eligible to vote here.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 11:04 am
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I sure am getting a lot of bad vibes from this Trump administration. We’ve been doing elections for a couple of centuries now. Why the sudden interest from the feds for this data? If it’s so important, why not go through some kind of structured process?
This does not vibe well.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 11:36 am
Great work by SBE. DOJ didn’t do their homework so SBE did it for them
Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 11:43 am
- Socially DIstant Watcher - Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 11:43 am:
I’m sure that’ll show DOJ /s
Comment by Google Is Your Friend Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 11:51 am
To explain this action in one word..Trump
Comment by TheDudeAbides Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 12:01 pm
@Google: DOJ has shown they do not care. But they’re not the audience. The judge who will hear any appeal is the audience and that’s why this thorough reply matters.
Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 12:07 pm
Rich I am so happy that you included the fact that a person with a felony, after he/she severed sentence, has their voting rights restored. This needs to be told over and over again. The Herald ran the piece about the DOJ and included the falsehood about felons voting. This state should be proud of restoring civil rights
Comment by DuPage Saint Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 12:10 pm
Convicted felon wants to know how many convicted felons were ineligible to vote.
Comment by Big Dipper Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 12:14 pm
Why wouldn’t Illinois want to clean up its voter rolls of non citizens like Virginia did
They cross referenced DMV data with Election data and removed 1,600 non citizens from voter rolls
Comment by Johnny B Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 1:41 pm
===Why wouldn’t Illinois want to clean up its voter rolls of non citizens like Virginia did===
County election authorities have that responsibility here.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 1:42 pm
And who is checking their work?
How many non citizens have been removed in Cook county and statewide?
Trust but verify
Comment by Johnny B Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 1:46 pm
===Trust but verify ===
State law gives them the authority.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 1:50 pm
===How many non citizens have been removed in Cook county and statewide?===
Nice try.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 1:50 pm
There has never been a reason to question elections. This is all to disenfranchise Democratic voters. Just like the 60-plus court cases regarding the 2020 election that Trump and his allies lost. It’s not voters’ problem that so many Americans are addled with bigotry and delusion.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 2:00 pm
Usually DMV data is neither accurate nor complete enough to determine the citizenship status of individuals.
The Supremes have stayed a lower court decision to reinstate those removed in Virginia while the litigation of the case continues. The Virginia case is still to be settled in court, partly based on confirmed citizens having been erroneously removed from the rolls. We shall see how it all turns out.
Comment by walker Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 2:10 pm
==Why wouldn’t Illinois want to clean up its voter rolls==
Who says they don’t and aren’t doing that? What they did was tell the DOJ to go pound sand and that they aren’t entitled to the information they asked for. That doesn’t mean that no action is being or has been taken. You may want to bend over backwards to satisfy the Dear Leader but I’m glad Illinois won’t.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Aug 12, 25 @ 2:17 pm