State GOP at cross-purposes with itself
Friday, Feb 6, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi last week…
Early voting will be well underway and I encourage every Republican to start preparing a clear plan to vote now.
Early voting gives you flexibility, convenience, and certainty that your voice will be heard in this critical election. […]
I encourage you to take the pledge to vote early or vote by mail — and then ask your friends, family, and fellow Republicans to do the same. When we commit early, we build momentum, strengthen our grassroots efforts, and ensure Republicans turn out strong across Illinois.
* The party is pushing vote by mail even though the president is totally against voting by mail as a concept. This has hampered the party here for years…
* Rick Pearson wrote about that earlier Salvi newsletter, the above Trump post and also this today…
But even as Salvi pushes early voting and vote-by-mail, she also has been encouraging “election integrity” efforts that involve supporters of Trump’s unfounded belief that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.
In a previous newsletter on Jan. 9, Salvi urged supporters to follow the actions of the Illinois Conservative Union and its chair, Carol Davis, a self-professed “election integrity” expert. Davis has contended “there is fraud in every election in this country,” questioned the integrity of election machinery and has said vote-by-mail ballots are susceptible to fraud and are part of a Democratic plot to do away with in-person voting.
Davis promotes her organization’s connection to Cleta Mitchell, one of Trump’s post-2020 election attorneys who unsuccessfully tried to overturn election results in several states.
Salvi also has promoted that poll watchers and others participate in “training” offered by the far-right Moline-based Illinois Freedom Alliance. The group wants bans on early voting, voting by mail and a ban on all electronic election equipment. It also promotes events by saying, “Our elections are corrupt and broken.”
Discuss.
- low level - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 2:31 pm:
==“Our elections are corrupt and broken.”==
But 2024 was all good, right? When they lose its “corrupt”. When they win its all good. What a complete farce. The Republican Party is corrupt and broken. No one with half a brain is buying their nonsense.
- JS Mill - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 2:36 pm:
=Carol Davis, a self-professed “election integrity” expert. =
Interesting, by maga standards she is qualified to be the secretary of HHS.
- Ann Dwyer - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 2:36 pm:
Crain’s asked the ACLU’s Ed Yohnka to weigh in. Here are his thoughts:
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opinion/illinois-gop-lends-credibility-trumps-voter-fraud-fiction-yohnka
- Dotnonymous x - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 2:50 pm:
Cross-purposes is halfway towards a circular firing squad…carry on.
- Sir Reel - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 2:57 pm:
I wish the Republicans would go beyond the mail in voting, voting machines, etc stuff and require that we must travel to polling places by horse and buggy and mark our ballots with the burnt end of a stick. Makes as much sense.
- Norseman - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 3:14 pm:
Give Dotnonymous a well-deserved rim shot. LOL
- JS Mill - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 3:33 pm:
=Give Dotnonymous a well-deserved rim shot. LOL=
And a hearty harumph.
- Think Again - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 3:44 pm:
=at cross-purposes with itself=
This issue isn’t black-and-white. You have to fight the battles in front of you, using the rules and laws that currently exist. Mail-in ballots are a legitimate tool for winning elections—so Republicans should use them effectively. At the same time, we should continue pushing for sensible GOP policy priorities like voter ID requirements. Common-sense standards should also apply to when and how vote-by-mail ballots are accepted and processed. Regarding the groups and individuals Salvi referenced, the Illinois Republican Party includes a wide range of viewpoints among its members.
- Herky - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 4:25 pm:
Is there a greater oxymoron than “sensible GOP policy priorities “?
- Pundent - Friday, Feb 6, 26 @ 4:36 pm:
=At the same time, we should continue pushing for sensible GOP policy priorities like voter ID requirements. Common-sense standards should also apply to when and how vote-by-mail ballots are accepted and processed.=
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with our current voter registration and verification process. The “common sense standards” that are being advocated are nothing more than an attempt by the GOP to sow doubt around the current voting processes. They want to question the current processes as a pretense to dispute results they don’t like. They aren’t looking for integrity, they’re looking for a different outcome.
- BE - Sunday, Feb 8, 26 @ 3:21 pm:
Is it ‘common sense’ to make sure that married women, minorities and rural folks pay more to be registered or reregistered to vote?