SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — With the 2024 election right around the corner, Illinois lawmakers are meeting with state and local election officials to ensure your votes are secure. The House Ethics and Elections Committee said Wednesday that Illinois is remaining vigilant against evolving threats to the electoral process.

"Democracy is built on the foundation that a vote cast in any election will be tallied quickly, accurately, and securely," said Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford). "Attacks on this process are attacks on us all."

Illinois lawmakers have passed several plans in recent years to expand access to voting. Although, Democrats and Republicans know that a growing number of people are trying to spread conspiracy theories about election security and ballot harvesting in the state.

The Illinois State Board of Elections runs the Cyber Navigator program to help local election authorities defend, detect and recover from cyber attacks. ISBE is also responsible for testing voting equipment prior to every election.

"Verified ballot boxes have keys that are tamper proof that have tamper proof seals available for newly certified systems," said ISBE Election Operations Director Brian Pryor. "We have confirmation that all memory cards or flash drives are secure and have tamper proof seals or locks available and confirm that bar codes or QR codes are one-time use codes and cannot be captured for additional use."

Election authorities also stressed that voting by mail is safe and secure. The State Board of Elections plans to air public service announcements throughout 2024 to address misinformation about the vote-by-mail process. 

ISBE spokesman Matt Dietrich also said Illinois State Police help monitor for deliberate misinformation on social media platforms. He noted that people have to be aware of fake ads and posted created with artificial intelligence.

"We have direct lines of communication with the social media companies themselves," Dietrich explained. "They do have employees that work directly with government and specific to elections. So, we can alert them to that and have those types of damaging things taken down."

Illinois voters

Election directors and secretaries of state from across the country have been hearing the same message about secure elections for many years.

Local election authorities also told lawmakers they are improving their social media presence to combat misinformation from popular blogs and Facebook groups. Although, there is a growing concern about voters becoming physically violent at polling places. Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman suggested lawmakers should pass a plan to protect election judges in the case they are attacked or harassed by angry voters.

"Treat them as other members of the circuit court," Ackerman said. "An attack at a polling location should be considered the same as harassment or an attack at a court."

Ackerman said lawmakers could create an election security grant program to help local election authorities recruit security for polling places. He also noted that election judge training could include information about de-escalation techniques to keep workers and other voters safe. 

The 2024 primary election is March 19. 

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