HR0827 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0827 LRB101 20979 MST 71040 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Recently, the public has become aware of serious issues with the implementation of the Automatic Voter Registration System (AVR) in Illinois, as the Secretary of State confirmed that from July 2, 2018 through December 13, 2019 the AVR system allowed for 574 self-identified, non-United States citizens to have voter registration information sent to the State Board of Elections; and

WHEREAS, Those individuals were added to the State's voter rolls; it was later determined by the State Board of Elections that at least 15 of those 574 individuals voted in the 2018 general election, and at least one of those 15 was a non-citizen who voted in Champaign County; and

WHEREAS, The Secretary of State's office has confirmed that they forwarded voter registration information for over 4,700 16-year-olds to the State Board of Elections who then forwarded such information to local election authorities, even though an Illinois resident is required to be 18-years-old to vote unless that individual is 17-years-old for a primary election for which they will be 18-years-old by the general election; and

WHEREAS, The Secretary of State's office has confirmed that, as a "quality control" measure, they are no longer forwarding AVR applications to the State Board of Elections on Saturdays and Sundays, which is a change from previous policy; and

WHEREAS, Illinois' AVR statute requires the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Employment Security, and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to also participate in automatic voter registration, and, to this date, only two of those four agencies are complying with State law; and

WHEREAS, The current Auditor General has an ongoing case before the State Board of Elections regarding his use of campaign funds from his account as State Representative; this case resulted in the State Board of Elections fining his campaign fund $5000, a situation which involved investigations by both the State Board of Elections and the federal government in regards to repeated campaign law violations and a situation which calls into question whether the Auditor General can carry out a truly independent audit involving the State Board of Elections; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Illinois State Board of Elections is directed to arrange and have conducted a performance audit of the Illinois Automatic Voter Registration System and its processes by an outside, independent auditor; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the audit include, but not be limited to, the following determinations:

(1) Whether the Office of the Secretary of State or the State Board of Elections knew non-citizens were entered into the Automatic Voter Registration System, and when they knew it;

(2) Whether the Office of the Secretary of State or the State Board of Elections knew non-citizens voted in a 2018 or 2019 election, and when they knew it;

(3) The process, time frame, and coordination of data sharing between the Secretary of State, the State Board of Elections, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Employment Security, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation;

(4) The process, time frame, and coordination of voter registration and data sharing between the State Board of Elections and local election authorities;

(5) Why the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Human Services have an automatic voter registration system which is different than the Secretary of State's system;

(6) Why the Department of Employment Security and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation have not yet implemented the Automatic Voter Registration System and a timeframe for its completion;

(7) Why the Secretary of State made the decision to continue administering the Automatic Voter Registration system after discovering non-citizens were entered into the system; and

(8) Whether the Secretary of State has completed an internal audit on the Automatic Voter Registration System, and what they have done to fix the system that allowed non-citizens to complete the Automatic Voter Registration process; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon the State of Illinois and its operating units, including, but not limited to, the Secretary of State and the State Board of Elections, to immediately suspend the Automatic Voter Registration system; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Employment Security, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, and any other State agency or other entity having information relevant to this audit shall cooperate fully and promptly in the conduct of this audit; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State Board of Elections shall commence this audit as soon as possible and report their findings and recommendations upon completion to the Governor and each of the four leaders of the General Assembly; and be it further

RESOLVED, That for the purpose of this resolution, the conclusion of this audit shall not be deemed to have taken place until the Legislative Audit Commission has reviewed the findings of this audit in a public meeting, and the General Assembly has been accorded adequate time on its legislative calendar to take any actions that may be reasonably deemed necessary or desirable to implement any recommendations made by the audit and to remedy any problems or dysfunctions uncovered by the audit; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution shall be delivered to Governor JB Pritzker, Secretary of State Jesse White, State Board of Elections Chairman Chuck Scholz, Department of Human Services Secretary Grace B. Hou, Department of Employment Security Director Gustavo Giraldo, Department of Natural Resources Director Colleen Callahan, Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Secretary Deborah Hagan, Auditor General Frank J. Mautino, and Legislative Audit Commission Executive Director Jane Stricklin.