Outgoing Illinois GOP chair bemoans ‘loose’ voting laws

MILWAUKEE — On his last day as chair of the Illinois Republican Party, Don Tracy bemoaned the state’s voting laws as “loose,” and promised incoming Chair Kathy Salvi would continue to ramp up “election integrity” efforts.

Tracy, a Springfield attorney who is stepping down after 3⅟₂ years in charge of a decimated state party organization, called upon Republicans and conservatives to “vote, and vote early” so that they could win elections and “tighten up” the state’s voting rules.

Under Tracy, the state party hired a full-time election integrity director, filling the role of local county and township organizations that have weakened amid GOP electoral losses.

Tracy complained the expansion of voting opportunities under Democratic control of state government has created “chaos” for county clerks who administer elections.

“It used to be we had election day. Now we have election season,” Tracy said at the Illinois GOP’s daily press briefing Thursday.

He specifically cited the 2022 race for 45th House District between Democrat Jenn Ladisch Douglass and Republican Deanne Mazzochi, who sued DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek for verifying signatures on mail-in ballots with vote-by-mail applications.

Mazzochi and Tracy argued signatures should be verified by using the most recent voter registration record — and a DuPage judge agreed — but Mazzochi lost a close race.

Tracy on Thursday said the expansion of mail-in voting “creates issues with people that want to … game the system” and argued for a voter identification law.

Despite those concerns, Tracy said Illinois voters should have confidence in the integrity of elections held in the state.

“There’s no perfect situation,” he said.