National wave of unfounded election-fraud accusations does not spare Illinois

No Republican nominee for president has won Illinois since 1988, with Joe Biden beating Donald Trump by more than 1 million votes in the last election two years ago.

As a reliably blue state, Illinois has been largely spared from the viral conspiracy theories about vote fraud and physical threats against elections officials that continue to plague many swing states, including Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Now, though, Illinois is on the receiving end in the latest wave of copycat letters from conservative election conspiracy theorists across the country. They are threatening legal action against Illinois elections officials and the local authorities who run the voting process, echoing Trump's long-running complaints that he was robbed of a second term.

In one such letter, a woman from south suburban Mokena wrote to county clerks, "I am an aggrieved citizen of the United States and the state of Illinois, and I am contemplating filing a lawsuit against the relevant parties pertaining to the continuing concerns I have regarding the integrity of all elections that took place after December 31, 2019."

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