Peoria Election Commission executive director Thomas Bride said the county's election system is secure as the state prepares for the March 17 primary election.
He said the county's 14-year-old voting system has plenty of safeguards.
“I think it’s as safe as any system that’s out there. Nothing is a 100%,” said Bride.
All voting machines are driven to the election commission office and secured before voting information is downloaded. While this may delay the tallying of initial poll results, it means the recent bungling of the Iowa Democratic caucus results isn’t possible in Peoria County.
“We’re not trying to get those results communicated to us via phone or email or Internet or anything like that. The machines themselves physically come back here and we pull the data off of them,” said Bride.
Bride adds he's also not concerned about statewide election security despite a Russian hack in 2016. He said Illinois' cyber security system is one of the best in the country.
“Really in Illinois since 2016 the state [and] — I think to some extent the election commission working very closely and getting great help from the count — has increased our security awareness.”
Thomas Bride recently sat down with Kristin McHugh to discuss Peoria County’s election process. You can hear the interview that first aired on WCBU below.
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