FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 17, 2026
Illinois Election Integrity Program: President Trump’s Address Confirms What We’ve Documented for Years — Now It’s Time for Illinois to Act
Carol Stream, IL — In response to President Trump’s address last night exposing the shadow government’s cover-up of compromised 2020 elections — including foreign data theft, voting machine vulnerabilities, fraudulent registrations, and non-citizen voting— the Illinois Election Integrity Program (a project of Illinois Conservative Union) today called on Governor Pritzker and legislative leaders to immediately benchmark Illinois’ election code against the Model Election Laws Handbook and pass comprehensive reforms this session.
For more than six years, our volunteer poll watchers, citizen auditors, and election observers have documented patterns in Illinois that match the exact vulnerabilities the President detailed. These were not glitches or isolated mistakes. They were systemic weaknesses that were designed to allow bad actors to exploit our processes and officials too often resisted transparency and accountability when we raised alarms.
What we observed in Illinois:
- The “Already Voted” Mail Ballot Identity Theft Scheme. In 2020 and in subsequent election cycles, voters across the state showed up on Election Day only to be told they had already voted by mail. These legitimate voters were forced to cast provisional ballots — many of which were discarded. This matches the national pattern of deliberate voter identity theft in which fraudulent mail ballots were cast in the names of registered voters who normally vote in person, using personal data stolen in massive breaches. No adequate investigation or explanation was ever provided at the time. Similar suspicious mail ballot patterns and chain-of-custody gaps have continued in later years.
- Voter Roll and Registration Irregularities. Citizen reviews and public records requests have repeatedly turned up non-citizens, deceased individuals, and duplicates on Illinois’ voter rolls. These issues persisted despite repeated requests for rigorous maintenance. The President’s confirmation of industrial-scale registration fraud in other states and nationwide non-citizen findings of potentially 1–2 million underscores why Illinois must act now.
- Voting Equipment and Transparency Failures. Observers documented machine glitches, inconsistent tabulation, limited paper trails in some jurisdictions, and resistance to meaningful post-election audits or public access to cast vote records and chain-of-custody documents. These problems align with the multiple intelligence assessments confirming foreign capabilities to exploit U.S. voting systems.
- Resistance to Accountability. When citizens and poll watchers flagged anomalies, many were dismissed, and records requests were slow-walked or denied. This created an environment where problems festered rather than being investigated and fixed — exactly the dynamic the President described at the national level.
“Last night the President provided the American People with legitimate receipts that validated what we have been documenting and warning about in Illinois since at least 2020,” said Carol Davis, Chair, Illinois Conservative Union. “The shadow government knew. They lied and hid the truth. They are the real election deniers. We have been telling the truth all along. Now we must repair the damage they caused — so every citizen in Illinois can believe in our elections again.”
Fortunately, states are not starting from scratch. The state adaptable legislative solutions already exist. The Model Election Laws Handbook was designed to address each of these vulnerabilities with specific statuary language based on the ten principles of the U.S. Citizens Elections Bill of Rights. It directly addresses the problems we have seen:
- Strict mail ballot qualification, public processing, no curing, and Election Night results reporting (Principle III).
- Proof of citizenship, rigorous ongoing voter roll maintenance, and database verification (Principles I & IV).
- Secure hand-marked paper ballots, bans on vulnerable/foreign technology, and real independent audits (Principles V & VI).
- Full transparency of all records and citizen standing to enforce the law with real penalties (Principles VII & X).
These reforms close the exact vectors exploited in 2020 and beyond. Many are already working in states that have strengthened their laws.
The Illinois Election Integrity Program of Illinois Conservative Union stands ready to provide model bill language, expert testimony, coalition support, and public education. We urge the Governor and Legislature to convene an immediate review of Illinois’ election statutes against the Handbook and advance comprehensive legislation before the next major election cycle.
###
The Illinois Election Integrity Program of Illinois Conservative Union is a nonpartisan grassroots network of citizens committed to honest, transparent, and accurate elections. We are affiliated with the national Election Integrity Network and fully support the Model Election Laws Handbook (modelelectionlaws.org).
Media Contact: Carol Davis, Chair, Illinois Conservative Union, 630-673-6095, info@ilpac.org, on X: @ILConservUnion
* * * * * * * * * *
ICU & Judicial Watch Legal Actions: Victories for Illinois Election Integrity!
| GREAT NEWS! Judicial Watch Sues to Enforce Voter Roll Clean Up on Behalf of Illinois Conservative Leaders (Joint Press Release issued by Illinois Family Action, Breakthrough Ideas, and Carol J. Davis) Wheaton, IL (March 6, 2024) – Non profit organizations Illinois Family Action and Breakthrough Ideas; along with lawfully registered Illinois voter Carol J. Davis; join with Judicial Watch in announcing that a federal lawsuit has been filed against the Illinois State Board of Elections and its Executive Director, Bernadette Matthews. At issue is failure to comply with federal law regarding voter roll maintenance (the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, NVRA). The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Details of the lawsuit can be found in the Judicial Watch press release at this link: https://www.judicialwatch.org/illinois-voting-rolls/ The NVRA requires states to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove” from the official voter rolls “the names of ineligible voters” who have died or changed residence. The law requires registrations to be cancelled when voters fail to respond to address confirmation notices and then fail to vote in the next two general federal elections. According to Davis, “The research conducted by Judicial Watch indicates that both the Illinois State Board of Elections and many Illinois counties show a shocking disregard of and lack of compliance with federal law.” Davis went on to say, “There is a crisis of confidence regarding the accuracy of elections among voters in recent years. One of the primary factors contributing to this lack of confidence is poorly-maintained voter rolls. Every serious election official must view maintaining accurate voter rolls as one of their primary duties. The voting public demands this.” Judicial Watch has a prominent national reputation and a successful record as advocates for election integrity. Illinois Family Action (https://illinoisfamilyaction.org/), Breakthrough Ideas (https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/) and Carol J. Davis (https://www.ilpac.org/) are pleased and honored that Judicial Watch has come alongside them to help advocate for properly maintained voter rolls in an effort to ensure honest elections throughout the state of Illinois. |
February 15, 2024: UPDATE – The 90-day period expired today. We cannot give more details at this time, but work is proceeding with Judicial Watch on this issue. Stay tuned.
December 8, 2023: The clock is ticking for the IL State Board of Elections to comply with Federal Law and clean the rolls!
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it sent notice letters to election officials in the District of Columbia, California, and Illinois, notifying them of evident violations of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993, based on their failure to remove inactive voters from their registration rolls…
… The notice letter to Illinois, sent on behalf of Judicial Watch, Illinois resident and voter Carol J. Davis, and Illinois Family Action, states:
- In Illinois’ responses to the EAC’s survey, 23 Illinois counties reported removing fewer than 15—and, in almost half of those counties, zero—voter registrations from November 2020 to November 2022 for failing to respond to an address confirmation notice and failing to vote in two consecutive general federal elections.
- Thirty-four Illinois jurisdictions simply did not report any data about such removals.
- Fifteen Illinois jurisdictions have more voter registrations than citizens of voting age.
In total, 57 Illinois counties that either reported removing 15 or fewer registrations or failed to report any data at all under the NVRA’s change of address removal procedures. These 57 counties contain over five million registered voters. [See entire Judicial Watch Press Release here.]
This is GREAT NEWS for Illinois! We’ll know by February 15, 2024 if Illinois will comply with Federal law, or if we have to proceed with a lawsuit. Stay tuned.
August 18, 2023: Clarification Regarding Statement Displayed During “Lindell Election Summit”
This is to clarify a statement which was displayed on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, during the “Lindell Election Summit” broadcast. The individual who presented the statement is not affiliated with and is not a spokesperson for ICU. The statement was in regard to the lawsuit settlement in Illinois Conservative Union v Illinois State Board of Elections. The statement might be misinterpreted to mean that the ICU settlement agreement would apply to the general public, when it in fact it only applies to Illinois Conservative Union and our attorneys at Judicial Watch. The statement which might be misinterpreted reads as follows:
“On July 20, 2023, Judicial Watch / Illinois Conservative Union vs. The State of Illinois won a settlement that will give the citizens of Illinois long sought after access to the Illinois Voter Rolls that include 15 years of voter history. BIG WIN!!”
The settlement was between ICU and the Illinois State Board of Elections, not “the citizens of Illinois”. Therefore, as a result of the settlement, Illinois Conservative Union is given access to the Illinois voter roll data through 2026, including 15 years of voting history of those included in the registration list. This data is subject to a non-disclosure agreement between ICU and the State. This suit did open the door to now allow all citizens in Illinois access to the statewide registration list, albeit with redactions such as address and date of birth information.
If citizens would like to assist in the process of verifying and validating the Illinois voter rolls, consider getting involved in our Illinois Election Integrity Program (www.ieip.org), or become an official Precinct Committeeman within your political party organization. ###
July 21, 2023: Judicial Watch & Illinois Conservative Union: Settle Voter Roll Lawsuit with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
See:
Judicial Watch Press Release 7/21/2023 https://www.judicialwatch.org/illinois-settles-voter-roll-lawsuit/
The Federalist (new): https://thefederalist.com/2023/07/24/court-illinois-must-forfeit-voter-roll-data-to-conservative-group/
Two federal courts have recently found that states have no sovereign immunity under the Elections Clause (new) https://electionlawblog.org/?p=135034
June 1, 2021: ICU Lawsuit UPDATE: Illinois Conservative Union together with Judicial Watch announce that a federal court has ruled that our lawsuit against the state can proceed. The goal of the suit is to ensure that Illinois comply with Federal law regarding cleaning and maintaining Illinois voter rolls. https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/court-rules-voter-rolls-illinois/
September 21, 2020: Illinois Conservative Union together with Judicial Watch announce that suit has been filed in regard to the Illinois State Board of Elections violation of federal election law.
http://www.ilpac.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/092120_FINAL_PR_JW-ICU-File-Suit.pdf
September 21, 2020: Judicial Watch Sues State of Illinois for Refusing to Disclose Voter Roll Data in Violation of Federal Law
https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/illinois-refuses-voter-roll-data/
Start an election integrity task force in your county
This presentation by Tazewell County GOP Election Integrity Task Force is very helpful for those who want to start an EI Task Force in their own county. This is not a public link – only those who have the link can access the video. Please do not share link on social media, in email newsletters or in blast emails. Thank you.