Ahead of midterms, Illinois’ GOP members of Congress question the state’s ‘election integrity’
Amid President Donald Trump's push to nationalize elections in 15 states, Illinois’ three Republican members of Congress expressed strong concerns this week about the Illinois State Board of Elections' commitment to the integrity and accuracy of its voter rolls.
In a Feb. 2 letter sent to the state elections board, Reps. Mike Bost, Mary Miller and Darin LaHood urged the state to provide more information about how voting records are vetted. According to the letter, Bost, Miller and LaHood want to ensure that undocumented immigrants, the deceased and individuals who have moved from Illinois to another state are not eligible to vote.
“For years, Illinois has refused to mandate voter ID, a commonsense election integrity measure," Bost, Miller and LaHood wrote. "The State also insists on counting mail-in ballots received long after election day, a controversial practice that is subject to ongoing litigation. Finally, Illinois refuses to set statewide guidance for voter list maintenance, a failure that raises serious questions about the integrity and accuracy of the state’s voter rolls.”
The request comes on the heels of a Jan. 22 letter from the House Administration Committee asking Illinois and nine other states to share their practices for reviewing voter registration.
In Illinois, mail-in ballots are counted up to two weeks after election day, as long as they are postmarked by election day.
Instances of voter fraud have taken place in Illinois over the last few years, but on a very small scale. According to the Heritage Foundation, there have been 19 cases of ineligible voting in Illinois since Trump first ran for office in 2016.
The original deadline for the state elections board to respond to the federal lawmakers' letter was Feb. 5, the same day that early voting opens for the Illinois 2026 primaries. The date has been pushed back to Feb. 12 at the state elections board's request.
A board spokesperson said the office would not comment until after it has sent a response to the House Administration Committee.
Since taking office, Trump has taken several steps to try to have the federal government play a larger role in elections ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department asked Illinois to turn over its voter registration database, which includes personal information such as drivers license numbers and Social Security numbers. The state refused, citing privacy concerns, leading the Justice Department to file federal lawsuits against the state board of elections.
Earlier this month, the FBI raided Fulton County, Georgia’s election headquarters, seizing ballots and election materials related to the 2020 election that Trump lost. Georgia was a key state in former President Joe Biden’s presidential victory over Trump.
On Monday, Trump suggested that elections should be “nationalized,” allowing the federal government to run elections for federal office in each state, despite the fact that the Constitution leaves that right to states.
Ed Yohnka, director of communications at American Civil Liberties Union Illinois, has raised concerns about federal attempts to oversee elections in Illinois, saying, “this is about the president not wanting there to be a check on his power.”
“There is no right more important than our ability to oversee the elections of our elected officials,” Yohnka said. “It is really sad to see our [members of Congress] enter this dark side of backing up unfounded claims. There is no evidence.”