Peoria County Election Commission Observer Report

10/16/2018: During the regular October meeting of the Board of Election Commissioners, a question was asked during the explanation of Bills about the use of flashdrives. Executive Director Tom Bride explained that once the drives are used in voting equipment, they are never again used in voting equipment. They can be utilized for other purposes, but not in voting equipment.
  As of October 16, 9000 ballots had been sent out with 47% returned already. Director Bride anticipates 35% voting early. Early voting at satellite sites begins on October 21.

 Th e Election Security Grant from the federal government will be divided up around the state. Half of the money will stay with the Illinois Election Commission. Peoria County will receive $36,565 to be used to bolster security. One use will be a back up hard drive to replace one that no longer works. Beyond that, Director Bride has been talking with IT at the County, since the Election Commission uses the County server. There are limits on how the money can be used. The voter data base on the County server is behind a firewall, and poll books communicate through the cloud, not the internet. If the State data base were to be hacked, Peoria County's list is the official list, so voting would not be compromised.
​Irene Pritzker, Observer