Leaders of the Illinois Republican Party expressed concerns about the integrity of the upcoming 2024 presidential election on Thursday. They stated that they would not unconditionally accept the results, fearing potential fraud. This stance aligns with former President Donald Trump, who has said he will only accept the results of the November 5 general election if “everything is honest.” Trump has consistently claimed, without evidence, that he won the 2020 election, which President Joe Biden won.
On his last day as the chair of the Illinois Republican Party, Don Tracy mentioned that the party had intensified its “election integrity efforts” in preparation for the November election. Tracy criticized laws allowing mail-in voting and same-day voter registration, stating they create chaos for election officials and increase the risk of fraud. According to Tracy, these measures open the door for those who want to “game the system.”
The official stance of the Illinois Republican Party, adopted in May, asserts that the state’s elections are “under attack by radical Democrats and Left-Wing operatives whose policies erode the integrity of our elections.” Despite these claims, documented cases of voter fraud are very rare and have never changed the outcome of an election in Illinois.
Tracy highlighted that mail-in ballots are counted if they are postmarked on Election Day and arrive within 14 days, making the outcome of some races unclear on Election Day. He suggested that voters should be required to show a government-issued ID to cast a ballot and that the rules for signature verification on mail-in ballots should be tightened. Tracy believes the current rules are a “recipe for fraud.”
Despite expressing these concerns, Tracy urged Illinois voters to have confidence in the election results. He acknowledged that no system is perfect but insisted that voter fraud is a real issue. Tracy’s tenure as the head of the Illinois GOP ended on Thursday.
“Fraud happens when you have chaos, and mail-in ballots have made it harder and harder,” Tracy said, urging Republican voters to turn out in November. He emphasized the need for better election integrity and called on Republicans and conservatives to vote early.
U.S. Rep. Darrin LaHood (R-Peoria) stated that the Republican Convention was focused on the 2024 election, not 2020, when there were alleged “improprieties” and votes cast by undocumented immigrants. LaHood, who joined a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election results in several swing states, pointed to “unacceptable” issues in cities like Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit, which have large Black populations that overwhelmingly voted for Biden in 2020.
LaHood assured that efforts are being redoubled to ensure that the 2024 election is run with proper integrity and that things are done differently than in 2020. U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) emphasized that elections must follow the rules set by state legislatures and expressed confidence that previous issues would not recur.
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Aaron Del Mar, a member of the Republican State Central Committee and spokesperson for the Cook County GOP, shared concerns about election fraud. He stressed that the party aims to be reasonable, not conspiracy theorists, but based on past issues and how elections have been run, there is significant concern. Del Mar stated that the party is working to educate Republican voters about the system so they can be vigilant about potential issues.
