Illinois misses deadline on voter database

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Illinois expects to miss a federal deadline to create an interactive election database by more than two years.

The Help America Vote Act -- passed by Congress after the Florida debacle in the 2000 presidential race -- gave states until Jan. 1, 2006, to set up databases that county election officials could use to purge the rolls of voters who are dead or ineligible. Illinois officials told the Chicago Tribune they expect to have the state's system up and running by the middle of 2008.

At least 11 other states are expected to miss the deadline.

In Illinois, 110 local election offices must be connected to a central computer server, including two rural counties that do not yet have high-speed Internet access.