Knox County Clerk Scott Erickson is on an election safety task force. With an upcoming election on April 2nd, Erickson and the task force has been reviewing the Knox County system and preparing for voter safety. Erickson tells WGIL, cybercriminals and their software is always changing. “We went throughout cyber-security review,” Erickson said. “I have a pretty good feeling that what they’re going to come up with is that we’re doing pretty well with we’re secure and locked down – the computer systems are safe. We’re not allowing traffic on it and things that shouldn’t be there. Then (it’s about) awareness – making sure people not just in the election office, but all the County offices are kind of, aware of different things that could happen.”
As far as turn-out thus far for the consolidated election in Knox County, Erickson says it’s been slow. He said, being the smallest of the election cycles, early voting has been slow and election day turnout will be slow: he expects a turn-out of 10-15%. Compared to the mid-term election, Erickson says, these smaller consolidated elections for municipalities and school boards don’t have candidates with huge advertising bankrolls. Early voting is open now – citizens that live outside the city limits of Galesburg can vote at the County Clerk’s Office 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday. The office will also be open this Saturday, March 30th from 9:00 am to noon.
