Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed a bipartisan automatic voter registration bill into law Monday, after initially vetoing the bill over concerns that it would increase voter fraud.
The new law makes Illinois the 10th state to pass laws that automatically register residents to vote when they apply for or renew their driver’s licenses and state IDs.
Automatic registration will be run through the secretary of state’s office and should be fully implemented by the 2018 election, NBC Chicago reported.
The bill passed unanimously in the state General Assembly in July and is designed to open up voting access to rural voters, military personnel and senior citizens.
Common Cause Illinois, the group that championed the bill, predicted there are more than 2 million Illinois residents who are eligible to vote, but aren’t registered.
The law will be the farthest reaching automatic voter registration law in the country, Chicago Sun Times reported.
The news comes amid backlash over the White House’s bogus election integrity commission.
The presidential advisory group has requested voter data from all 50 states as a means of investigating cases of voter fraud, even though voter fraud is exceedingly rare. President Trump claimed that millions of illegal votes caused him to lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
