Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider (R-Burr Ridge) has demanded that Secretary of State Jesse White (D-Chicago) "shut down" the state's Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) program until the causes of a series of recently reported gaffes are identified and fixed.
Schneider's call to halt the AVR program came after thousands of ineligible teenagers were automatically registered to vote through the Illinois Secretary of State's Office.
The Daily Line reported that about 4,700 16-year-olds were registered automatically. They were removed when the State Board of Elections caught the problem.
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider (R-Burr Ridge)
To be eligible to vote in the state of Illinois, in addition to being an American citizen and living in your election precinct for 30 days prior to the date of the election, one must be 17 on or before the date of the primary. Legal voters must also turn 18 by the day of the general election, according to the rules posted on the State Board of Elections website.
"The fundamental right to vote and the sanctity of our democracy is too important to bury our heads in the sand and trust that the Illinois state government has everything under control when it clearly does not," said Schneider.
Another flaw that was reported was that nearly 300 people who chose not to participate in automatic registration were automatically registered to vote.
The ILGOP Chairman now wants the AVR Program suspended until both an investigation and an audit has been completed. He also said steps need to be taken so that this does not happen again.
"Shut it down now," Schneider said. "Shut it down until we know the entire scope of the Secretary of State's failures in implementing the AVR Program."
This was not the first time Schneider has called to put a stop to the AVR progran. Prior to this mishap, hundreds of non-citizens were automatically registered to vote and some even voted in 2018.
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