Sangamon Sun

Kyle Thomas is wondering whether the group known as Judicial Watch is once again crying wolf.

The director of the Division of Voting and Registration Systems under the State Board of Education told the Sangamon Sun that accusations by the group that Sangamon County was among 24 counties in the state to have illegal voter rolls has happened before.

And were apparently wrong before.

“We don’t agree with the claims, and we’re not sure about the source of all their information,” Thomas said. "It could be they may be comparing active and inactive numbers, and we only compare active numbers.”

He said that in years past, the county has responded to similar claims, only to hear nothing back.

“We’ll have to wait and see if this time is any different,” Thomas said.

Judicial Watch sent letters to 11 states threatening lawsuits if counties did not fix their voter rolls, which the group said had more registered voters than eligible residents.

Besides Sangamon, Judicial Watch pointed to perceived flaws in the voter rolls of Alexander, Bureau, Cass, Clark, Crawford, DuPage, Franklin, Grundy, Hardin, Henderson, Jefferson, Jersey, Massac, McHenry, Mercer, Monroe, Pulaski, Rock Island, Scott, Union, Wabash, Washington and White counties.

Judicial Watch authorities insist their numbers are based on tabulations composed by the U.S. Census Bureau and other government agencies, with representatives saying there is strong evidence to suggest that the counties are violating the National Voter Registration Act.

Thomas said that based on Voter Registration Systems figures, only Monroe County’s numbers appear somewhat off.

Judicial Watch sent similar letters to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Tennessee.