One county out in Illinois had been afflicted with severe connectivity issues with its primary computer servers because of an alleged cyber attack against the area.
An announcement from the Champaign County Clerk’s Office explained the issue this past Tuesday in the wake of a series of reports highlighting issues with voting at various polling areas.
“The Champaign County Clerk’s Office is aware of connectivity issues and computer server performance being impacted. The Clerk’s Office believes these are due to cyber-attacks on the network and servers,” explained the statement.
The information made public that the website for the county clerk has been the target of numerous cyber-attacks on the county over the past month.
“For the past month the Champaign County Clerk’s website has been the target of repeated D-DOS attacks, fortunately the reinforced security and response from the Clerk’s IT team has prevented these attacks from being successful and the Clerk’s website has remained secured. No data or information has been compromised and the election is secure,” it continued.
The statement highlighted that the efforts in hacking are a “strategic and coordinated effort to undermine and destabilize our democratic process.” The clerk’s office issued encouragement to voters, pressing, “Please do not fall victim to this.”
“The Clerk’s Office is committed to ensuring every eligible voter in Champaign County has access to a fair, free, and accessible election. Please stay in line!” explained the statement to voters.
Another update issued a bit later by the office claimed that any voter who made it to the polling lines by 7 p.m. Central time would be processed with no regard to how long it would end up taking it to work through the line.
Illinois also lets any eligible voter the power to register on Election Day. Anyone in line prior to 7 p.m. that has the needed identification can also fully register and vote.
The issues surrounding the voting machines take place as voters in the state attempt to cast their ballots to elect the state governor. Republican Darren Bailey has campaigned to replace Current Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker for the leadership role in the state. Released by FiveThirtyEight, the most recent poll spotlighted Pritzker ahead by 20 points in his reelection effort.
Pritzker has received a copious amount of criticism due to his support of heightened access to abortion along with the rapidly climbing levels of crime throughout the state. He was also prodded quite a bit for his draconian pandemic lockdown measures.