PEKIN, Ill. — Tazewell County is ramping up election security efforts.
County Clerk John Ackerman was joined Monday by 18th District Congressman Darin LaHood in announcing two grants totaling a little more than $65,000 from the state Cyber Navigator Program.
That program was created by the Illinois State Board of Elections in conjunction with the U.S. Congressional Help America Vote Act and Department of Homeland Security.
One allotment of approximately $22,000 is to help to change the physical layout of the Tazewell County Clerk’s Office.
The changes in layout will affect how countertops are laid out. The public will no longer have easy access to ballots as votes are being counted or to related computers.
The other $43,000 will go towards centralization of all Tazewell County government computers.
For example, if a computer remotes into a county computer, election or otherwise, the county’s information technology is immediately notified.
“As we saw in our last election [in 2016], there was a number of vulnerabilities to our election system,” said LaHood.
“These grants will help with the integrity of the elections in Tazewell County. It protects the vulnerabilities that have come from outside America, whether that’s Russia, North Korea, China, or other entities that have been engaged in cybertheft.”
Ackerman said to understand exactly what the grant money will safeguard, it’s important to make the distinction between a voter’s information and a voter’s vote.
“When you vote in Tazewell County, it’s absolutely secured. It cannot be manipulated, it cannot be hacked,” he said.
“Voter information is a constant fight. We have to make sure we are constantly up-to-date and have the best staff training and equipment in place to guarantee when you’ve provided confidential information to us, we’re keeping it safe, confidential, and secure.
“That’s where that grant funding is coming in. It’s helping us safeguard that guarantee.”
Ackerman said in previous elections, Tazewell County relied upon internet provider security.
