South West Illinois News

Judicial Watch assessed county voter registration information using outdated data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Monroe County Clerk Dennis Knobloch told SW Illinois News.

Following the conservative foundation's accusations that 24 Illinois counties violated federal voting laws, Knobloch said Monroe County is working closely with the Illinois State Board of Elections to ensure voter data is current.

Judicial Watch warned all of the counties to update their voter information within 90 days, including removing inactive voters, updating incorrect home addresses and phone numbers, and ensuring that anyone who has died or moved out has been taken off the lists. 

Knobloch said Monroe County would conduct a voter purge, which Illinois requires during odd-numbered years. Purges allow voters who show no activity to be registered as “inactive” and give county residents opportunities to verify addresses and registration information.

“This process always results in removing voters who have moved, possibly out of state, but haven’t provided us with that information,” Knobloch said. “It is our feeling that once we perform these processes, our numbers will be in line with accepted standards.”

Illinois was one of 11 states to receive notice-of-violation letters from Judicial Watch, which said it reviewed Election Assistance Commission and U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data to identify which jurisdictions' total registered voters outnumbered residents of voting age.

The list was published on April 11. In Monroe County, 103.58 percent of the population 18 years or older is registered to vote, meaning Monroe County has more registered voters than eligible voters. In Union County, which also appears on the Judicial Watch, 108.24 percent of the population is registered to vote.

In a statement, Judicial Watch told states that failing to keep accurate voter registration lists, as mandated by Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Law, would “undermine public confidence in the electoral process."

“These 11 states face possible Judicial Watch lawsuits unless they follow the law and take reasonable steps to clean up their voting rolls of dead, moved, and non-citizen voters,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.