Hundreds of Knox and Warren county voters’ personal information – including names, full addresses, dates of birth, and whether they voted in 2020 – has been published on a purported news site called “Galesburg Reporter.”
The Illinois State Board of Elections is asking the publisher of that website and numerous others in Illinois to take down the personal data voters that may have been published in violation of election code.
But thus far, Local Government Information Services has not done so.
Since late March, SBE has received numerous complaints from voters whose information has been published on similar sites operated by LGIS across the state, purporting to show which voters in specific precincts voted in 2020.
Lake Forest-based LGIS, which bills itself as a “media watchdog,” may have acquired the data when it was affiliated with the Illinois-based conservative super PAC Liberty Principles, according to an SBE release.
While SBE is mentioned in the introductions to the articles, the state agency did not provide data to LGIS.
But political action committees can buy SBE’s voter file for political purposes, with an explicit prohibition on other business purposes.
In 2019, SBE stopped providing dates of birth in the voter file to further protect personal data. SBE believes LGIS accessed the 2016 voter file because of its affiliation with Liberty Principles, which funded its operations.
But after complaints were filed with SBE regarding the PAC’s financial reporting related to LGIS in 2016, Liberty Principles PAC ended its financial support of the company.
SBE does not know how LGIS got voter data from 2020. The agency also said some of the information published is inaccurate.
“While LGIS may arguably have had legal access to the voter data when it was being financed by a political committee, any semblance of legality ended when the relationship with the PAC was severed in 2016,” said SBE Executive Director Bernadette Matthews, in the release. “In 2018, we decided to remove dates of birth from the voter file provided to political committees as an added security measure for voters. It is disappointing when an organization shows such little regard for voters.”
SBE has been in contact with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office about potential legal action in the matter.
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