Over 5K Illinois residents not registered to vote due to DMV coding error

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Illinois Secretary of State’s Office says it recently discovered an error that left approximately 5,400 residents off voting rolls.

According to officials, a 2019 computer coding issue related to REAL IDs resulted in the problem.

The new code was implemented as part of an Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) system which registers unregistered voters to vote when they renew their driver’s license, state ID, or apply for a REAL ID.

“The office determined the coding error impacted Illinoisans who chose not to register to vote at the time they applied for a REAL ID, beginning in 2019, but had later opted to sign up to vote when asked during a subsequent visit to the DMV. The coding error prevented those registration applications for those REAL ID holders during their second visit from getting forwarded to the State Board of Elections,” the Secretary of State’s Office said in a statement.

Affected individuals will be notified by local election authorities prior to the November 5th General Election.

Authorities stressed that no one who was ineligible to vote applied to register at a DMV, and all the individuals who were impacted were U.S. Citizens and residents of Illinois.

“Fortunately, we discovered the problem and fixed it so no qualified voter who applied is disenfranchised in the upcoming presidential election,” Giannoulias said. “We have also updated the review process for applicants registering to vote when they get their REAL IDs and added additional safeguards to ensure no errors occur moving forward.”

To check their voter registration status, Illinoisans are encouraged to visit the State Board of Elections website .

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