Jeanne Ives, Illinois GOP chair respond to Illinois alderman charged in deceased voter ballot case
Former Illinois representative Jeanne Ives weighed in on an Illinois election-related case involving a Waukegan alderman accused of submitting a mail-in ballot in the name of a deceased relative during the March 2026 primary.
“Thank you Bob Grogan! And why aren't the Democrats calling for the election fraudster to resign, too,” Ives wrote in a May 30 post on X.
Her comments came after prosecutors alleged that Waukegan, Illinois Alderman, Sylvia Sims Bolton, submitted a vote-by-mail ballot using her deceased mother’s voter registration information. According to Fox News, Authorities have charged Bolton and said the ballot was flagged during election processing and was not counted.
According to prosecutors, election safeguards identified an issue with the ballot, triggering a review and referral to the state’s attorney’s office. Bolton later turned herself in after charges were filed, including at least one felony count.
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Bob Grogan praised election officials for identifying and stopping the ballot, saying the clerk’s office “did the right thing” by flagging and segregating it. He said there was a delay between detection and referral to prosecutors and described the case as an example of what he called a straightforward, easily detectable form of voter fraud involving a ballot cast in the name of a deceased voter.
Grogan also said vote-by-mail systems carry higher risk than in-person voting and require additional safeguards. He cited his experience as a certified fraud examiner and his participation in a recent statewide recount. He added that while the case appears to be isolated, improperly executed fraud could affect additional votes if not detected.
He further said elected officials found to have committed voter fraud should resign from office, calling such conduct disqualifying regardless of whether it is related to official duties.
Ives represented Illinois's 42nd district in the House from 2013 to 2019 as a Republican and ran in both the 2018 gubernatorial primary and the 2020 congressional election, according to her official biography from the Illinois General Assembly.
Bob Grogan is a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner who served three terms as DuPage County Auditor from 2008 to 2020, according to the Illinois GOP. During his tenure, he focused on government transparency and oversight, including implementing online financial disclosure tools and audit reporting systems. In 2026, Grogan was elected chair of the Illinois Republican Party.