REPORT DIGEST

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION FOR THE TWO YEARS
ENDED JUNE 30, 2019

Release Date:  June 11, 2020

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT:  10

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT -- TOTAL 
Category 1:  0 -- 1 -- 1 
Category 2:  8 -- 1 -- 9
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0 
TOTAL:  8 -- 2 -- 10

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 4

Category 1: Findings that are material
weaknesses in internal control and/or a
qualification on compliance with State
laws
and regulations (material noncompliance).
Category 2: Findings that are significant
deficiencies in internal control and
noncompliance with State laws and
regulations. Category 3: Findings that
have no internal control issues but are in
noncompliance with State laws and
regulations.

State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor
General FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General, Iles Park
Plaza, 740 E. Ash Street, Springfield, IL
62703 (217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are
also
available on the worldwide web at
www.auditor.illinois.gov

INTRODUCTION

This digest covers the Secretary of
State’s compliance examination for the two years ended June 30, 2019.  A separate audit of the Agency’s financial statements was previously released on February 25, 2020. In total, this report contains 10
findings, one of which was reported within the Secretary of State’s financial audit
report.

SYNOPSIS

• (19-2) The Office failed to fully comply
with applicable sections of the Election
Code. 
• (19-3) The Office failed to fully
comply with applicable sections of the
Illinois Identification Card Act.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

NONCOMPLIANCE WITH THE ELECTION CODE

The Office failed to fully comply with
applicable sections of the Election Code
(10 ILCS 5) (Code).

During the engagement period, the Office
was noncompliant with two sections of the
Code as follows:

• During fieldwork, we noted a
downloadable, printable voter registration
form was not made available on the
Office’s
website.

• While the Office does require employees
to adhere to certain procedural standards,
including the Driver’s Privacy Protection
Act, 18 USC 2721, and within its policy
manual, the Office has not established
specific policies and procedures to
protect the privacy and security of voter
information as required by the Code.
(Finding 2, pages 16-17)

We recommended the Office make available
on its website a downloadable, printable
voter registration form, or seek legislative remedy from this requirement. We also recommended the Office formally implement policies and procedures to protect the privacy and security of voter information as it is required, stored, and transmitted among agencies, including the retention and preservation of voter information.

Office officials accepted the
recommendation.

NONCOMPLIANCE WITH THE ILLINOIS
IDENTIFICATION CARD ACT

The Office failed to fully comply with
applicable sections of the Illinois
Identification Card Act (Act).

During the engagement period, the Office
issued nearly 35,000 identification cards.
During our testing of the Office’s
issuance
of identification cards, we note the
following exceptions:

• The Office has not drafted
administrative rules to administer the Wallet Card Program as required by the Act.

• The housing status of four of 60 (7%)
individuals tested who were provided
homeless identification cards during
fiscal years 2018 and 2019 were not verified by a human services, legal services, or other worker that had knowledge of the individual’s housing status during fiscal years 2018 and 2019.

• The veteran status of two of 60 (3%)
individuals who were provided veteran
identification cards during fiscal years
2018 and 2019 were not verified by the
Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs or
using the Form 214 from the U.S.
Department
of Defense.

• During our testing, we noted the Office
issued two individuals more than three
identification cards in one year. These
individuals were issued four
identification
cards in 2018.

• One of sixteen (6%) individuals tested
who were sent a letter notifying them that
the identification card associated with
their name would be cancelled was not
allowed at least five days to appear at a
Drivers Services Facility before
cancellation as permitted by the Act. The
individual tested was allowed one day.
(Finding 3, pages 18-19)

We recommended the Office ensure
compliance
with all elements of the Act, or seek
legislative remedy for the requirements
for which it believes changes are necessary.

Office officials accepted the
recommendation.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining compliance findings pertain
to noncompliance with various statutory
mandates, weaknesses related to property
and equipment, reconciliations, locally
held funds, and Payment Card Industry Data
Security Standards, inaccurate Agency Fee
Imposition Reports, and inadequate
controls over service providers.  We will review the Office’s progress towards the
implementation of our recommendations in
our next compliance examination.

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a compliance
examination of the Office for the two
years
ended June 30, 2019, as required by the
Illinois State Auditing Act. The
accountants qualified their report on
State compliance for Finding 2019-001.  Except for the noncompliance described in this finding, the accountants stated the Office complied, in all material respects, with the requirements described in the report.

This compliance examination was conducted
by Sikich, LLP.

JANE CLARK Division Director

This report is transmitted in accordance
with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State
Auditing Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO Auditor General

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