Automatic voter registration supporters say Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto means headaches for 700,000 potential Illinois voters. Cook County Clerk David Orr says those registered voters have outdated addresses.
Among other things, the legislation would've allowed an automatic update of their information before November.
Rauner rejected automatic registration, despite favoring the concept and overwhelming support from legislators. He's raised concerns about fraud, like noncitizens voting.
However, backers say automatic registration would reduce fraud and noncitizens voting is rare. Voter rights groups and Democrats suggested the Republican governor was playing politics, echoing voter suppression concerns elsewhere. Rauner's administration dismissed that.
Supporters claim Rauner wanted to push full implementation of the plan from 2018 to 2019, after the next governor's race. Rauner's administration said it wasn't "wedded" to an implementation date.
