• About Us
  • Write For Us
  • Advertising
  • Support
  • Contact Us
May 29, 2023 2:45 pm CDT
LISTEN LIVE:
No Result
View All Result
Heartland Newsfeed
Call Now: 844-592-0768
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Illinois
    • Local
      • Capital Area
      • East Central Illinois
      • West Central Illinois
    • Regional
      • Chicagoland
      • Metro-East
      • Northern Illinois
      • Quad Cities
      • Southern Illinois
    • Obits
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Road Conditions
      • Illinois
    • Weather Closings
      • Central Illinois
  • Missouri
    • Regional
      • Northeastern Missouri
      • East Central Missouri
      • St. Louis Metro
      • Southeast Missouri
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Weather Closings
      • Greater STL Metro (IL/MO)
    • Road Conditions
      • Missouri
  • Weather
  • National
  • World
  • Sports
    • Basketball
      • NBA
    • Bowling
    • Boxing
    • Football
      • Arena Football
      • CFL
      • NFL
      • XFL
      • USFL
    • Golf
      • PGA
    • Hockey
      • NAHL
      • NHL
    • MLB
      • MiLB
    • MMA
      • UFC
    • NCAA
      • Basketball
      • Football
    • Olympics
    • Preps
    • Racing
      • Horse Racing
      • NASCAR
    • Soccer/Futbol
      • Bundesliga
      • Champions League
      • FIFA
      • La Liga
      • MLS
      • NWSL
      • Premier League
      • U.S. National Soccer
      • USL
      • USL Championship
    • Tennis
    • Wrestling
      • AEW
      • Independents
      • MLW
      • NJPW
      • NWA
      • ROH
      • WWE
  • Entertainment
    • Crossword
    • News Quiz
  • Opinion
    • Letters To The Editor
    • Editorial
    • Columnists
  • Radio
    • Affiliates
    • Live Video
      • HLNF Live
      • RTMP Direct
    • Network Schedule
    • Network Streams
    • Podcasts
      • Radio Network
      • Podcast Network
  • Features
    • Classifieds
      • Current Ads
      • Job Board
        • Job Listings
        • J2CTalroo
        • Post a Job
        • Receive Alerts
        • ZipSearch
    • Community Calendar
    • News Feeds
      • Statehouse
      • Legislative
      • Breaking News
  • Store
  • Deals
  • Calendar

No products in the cart.

Heartland Newsfeed
No Result
View All Result

Elections board will be ‘toast’ without new computers by 2018 elections, official says

Jake Leonard by Jake Leonard
June 20, 2017
in Business & Lifestyle, Business News, Decision 2018, Illinois, Illinois Legislative Watch, Local, Politics, Technology News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
Donate
0

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ ongoing budget problem has left the Illinois State Board of Elections in a financial hole so deep that agency officials claim they can’t afford the new computers they need to handle the number of candidates filing petitions to run in next year’s elections.

Ken Menzel, general counsel for the board, said there are approximately 4,000 active campaign committees for 2018 and without at least $25,000 to replace obsolete equipment, the voting lines will be exceedingly long next November.

Even if Senate Bill 6 — which would provide the board with $20.4 million in funding — were to become law, agency officials argue they would still need additional money to incorporate automatic voter registration legislation and update hardware and software as needed.

Election officials are also warning that the agency could be left vulnerable to hacking and might even be forced to “unplug from the internet” unless it can pay $9,000 for antivirus protection that is already way past due.

“The state is two years into operating without a budget,” Menzel said. “In that time, the only money we’ve received has been the stopgap money we got in fiscal year 2017. It’s left us limping along, and without a budget, there’s no money to move around to cover even small things.”

Menzel said it’s hard to estimate how old the computer system is because the agency has “so many servers doing different things.” Just last year, foreign hackers were able to penetrate the system and swipe personal information from voters.

Menzel suggested the idea of having people come into an office and file on a computer as opposed to online was far-fetched.

“We have terminals in both offices to do that kind of filing, but it would be a large inconvenience for people not in Illinois or Springfield,” he said. “Without internet service, we would be toast.”

The $20.4 million appropriation is part of a $37.3 billion budget recently passed by Senate Democrats that also includes $5.4 billion in tax hikes for fiscal year 2018, which starts on July 1 and ends June 30, 2018. The state expects to generate roughly $32 billion in revenues for the next fiscal and the proposed tax hikes were said to be aimed toward avoiding deficit spending.

Jake Leonard
Website | + posts

Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.

  • Jake Leonard
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/admin/
    Carlinville library book sale June 3
  • Jake Leonard
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/admin/
    LLCU donates to Nokomis library
  • Jake Leonard
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/admin/
    LLCU to acquire Nokomis Savings Bank
  • Jake Leonard
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/admin/
    Bliefnick murder jury selection Monday

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Telegram
  • Print
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
Tags: 2018boardcomputersElectionsofficialsaystoastwithout
Share196Tweet123Share5Send
.
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Five things you should know before purchasing auto insurance

    671 shares
    Share 268 Tweet 168
  • Nokomis council passes dumpster ordinance

    550 shares
    Share 220 Tweet 138
  • Illinois to see two gas hikes in 2023

    543 shares
    Share 217 Tweet 136
  • Viola Armstrong, 92, Pana

    537 shares
    Share 215 Tweet 134
  • Leto Voudrie, 83, Moweaqua

    535 shares
    Share 214 Tweet 134

HOURS AND INFO

800 Capps Ave.
Nokomis, IL 62075-1415
admin@heartlandnewsfeed.com
Online all the time 
Office Hours: 8 AM to 8 PM
Newsroom: (217) 569-4230
Listen Line: 
(217) 569-4230 ext. 1
Advertising: 
(217) 718-5281
After-Hours: 
(217) 565-9709 / (217) 565-9273

Sitemap | Published Press | Privacy Policy
Staff Email | Independent Media

LIVE WEBSITE VIEWERS

.
ADVERTISEMENT

DEADLINES

Daily: 11 p.m. Central
Weekend
: 11 p.m. Central
Sports: 11 p.m. Central

Upcoming deadlines
TBD

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • World
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Health
    • Travel

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

00:00
00:00
WP Radio
WP Radio
OFFLINE LIVE
%d bloggers like this: