# 1960 United States presidential election in Illinois

Elections in Illinois :
Federal government
U.S. Presidential elections
1820
1824
1828
1832
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1864
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
Dem
Rep
1988
1992
1996
Dem
Rep
2000
Dem
Rep
2004
Dem
Rep
2008
Dem
Rep
2012
Dem
Rep
2016
Dem
Rep
2020
Dem
Rep
2024
Dem
Rep
U.S. Senate elections
1818
1819
1823
1824
1824 sp
1825
1830 sp
1831
1835
1837
1843
1846
1849
1849 sp
1853
1859
1861
1863 sp
1867
1879
1882
1885
1885 sp
1887 sp
1888
1890
1894
1896
1897
1901
1903
1907
1909
1913
1913 sp
1914
1918
1920
1924
1926
1928 sp
1930
1932
1936
1938
1940 sp
1942
1944
1948
1950
1954
1956
1960
1962
1966
1968
1970 sp
1972
1974
1978
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1996
1998
2002
2004
2008
2010
2010 sp
2014
2016
2020
2022
2026
U.S. House elections
1818
1819
1820
1822
1824
1826
1828
1831
1832
1834
1836
1838
1840
1842
1844
1846
1848
1850
1852
1854
1856
1858
1859
6th sp
1860
1861
6th sp
1862
1864
1866
1868
1870
1871
AL sp
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1895
10th sp
18th sp
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
4th sp
1920
1922
AL sp
1923
2nd sp
4th sp
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
19th sp
1946
1948
1950
1952
1953
7th sp
1954
1956
1957
7th sp
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1969
13th sp
1970
6th sp
1972
15th sp
1973
7th sp
1974
1975
5th sp
1976
1978
1980
10th sp
1982
1983
1st sp
1984
1985
14th sp
1986
1988
21st sp
1990
1991
15th sp
1992
1994
1995
2nd sp
1996
1998
2000
1st
2002
2004
2006
2008
14th sp
2009
5th sp
2010
17th
2012
2013
2nd sp
2014
2015
18th sp
2016
2018
2020
2022
1st
2024 :
State government
General elections
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1969
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial elections
1818
1822
1826
1830
1834
1838
1842
1846
1848
1852
1856
1860
1864
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
Lieutenant Gubernatorial elections
1818
1822
1826
1830
1834
1838
1842
1846
1848
1852
1856
1860
1864
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
Attorney General elections
2018
2022
Secretary of State elections
2022
Comptroller elections
2016
Senate elections
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
House of Representatives elections
1964
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Judicial elections
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures and referendums
State capitol referendum (1834)
Cutback Amendment (1980)
Crime Victim Rights Amendment (1992)
Illinois Governor Recall Amendment (2010)
Public Pension Amendment (2012)
Marsy's Law (2014)
Right to Vote Amendment (2014)
Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox Amendment (2016)
Fair Tax (2020)
Right to Collective Bargaining Amendment (2022) :
Chicago
General elections
2019
2023
Mayoral elections
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1865
1867
1869
1871
1873
1876
1877
1879
1881
1883
1885
1887
1889
1891
1893
1893 sp
1895
1897
1899
1901
1903
1905
1907
1911
1915
1919
1923
1927
1931
1935
1939
1943
1947
1951
1955
1959
1963
1967
1971
1975
1977 sp
1979
1983
1987
1989 sp
1991
1995
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
2027
Aldermanic elections
1923
1925
1927
1929
2011
2015
2019
2023
Chicago Board of Education elections
2024
2026 :
Cook County
County elections
1946
1980
State's Attorney
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
vte :
The 1960 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 27 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
In the nation's second-closest race following Hawaii, Illinois was won by Senator John F. Kennedy (D–Massachusetts), running with Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, with 49.98% of the popular vote against incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon (R–California), running with former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., with 49.80% of the popular vote, a margin of victory of only 0.18%. This was the last time that a Democrat would win Illinois by only a single digit margin of victory.

## Primaries
### Turnout

Turnout in the state-run primary elections (Democratic and Republican) was 16.43% with a total of 836,458 votes cast.
Turnout during the general election was 86.51%, with 4,757,409 votes cast. Both major parties held non-binding state-run preferential primaries on April 12.

### Democratic

The 1960 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on April 12, 1960, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Democratic Party's state primaries ahead of the 1960 presidential election.
The popular vote was a non-binding "beauty contest". Delegates were instead elected by direct votes by congressional district on delegate candidates.
All candidates were write-ins. Kennedy ran a write-in campaign, and no candidate actively ran against him in Illinois.
Not all of the vote-getters had been declared candidates. Johnson, Stevenson, and Symington had all sat out the primaries.
Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley, head of the Cook County Democratic Party, promised to deliver Kennedy the support of Cook County's delegates, so long as Kennedy won competitive primaries in other states.
1960 Illinois Democratic presidential primary :
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| John F. Kennedy (write-in) | 34,332 | 64.57% |
| Adlai Stevenson (write-in) | 8,029 | 15.10% |
| Stuart Symington (write-in) | 5,744 | 10.80% |
| Hubert Humphrey (write-in) | 4,283 | 8.06% |
| Lyndon B. Johnson (write-in) | 442 | 0.83% |
| Others | 337 | 0.63% |
| Totals | 53,167 | 100.00% |

### Republican

The 1960 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on April 12, 1960, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Republican Party's state primaries ahead of the 1960 presidential election.
The preference vote was a "beauty contest". Delegates were instead selected by direct-vote in each congressional district on delegate candidates.
Nixon ran unopposed in the primary.
1960 Illinois Republican presidential primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| | Republican | Richard Nixon | 782,849 | 99.94% |
| | Write-in | Others | 442 | 0.1% |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 783,291 | 100.00% |

## Results

1960 United States presidential election in Illinois :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | John F. Kennedy | 2,377,846 | 49.98% |
| | Republican | Richard Nixon | 2,368,988 | 49.80% |
| | Socialist Labor | Eric Hass | 10,560 | 0.22% |
| | Write-in | | 15 | 0.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 4,757,409 | 100% |

### Results by county

| County | John F. Kennedy Democratic | John F. Kennedy Democratic | Richard Nixon Republican | Richard Nixon Republican | Various candidates Other parties | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes cast |
| Adams | 14,827 | 44.22% | 18,674 | 55.70% | 28 | 0.08% | -3,847 | -11.48% | 33,529 |
| Alexander | 4,477 | 51.83% | 4,143 | 47.96% | 18 | 0.21% | 334 | 3.87% | 8,638 |
| Bond | 2,856 | 39.88% | 4,297 | 60.00% | 9 | 0.13% | -1,441 | -20.12% | 7,162 |
| Boone | 2,605 | 28.43% | 6,552 | 71.51% | 5 | 0.05% | -3,947 | -43.08% | 9,162 |
| Brown | 1,849 | 49.44% | 1,889 | 50.51% | 2 | 0.05% | -40 | -1.07% | 3,740 |
| Bureau | 7,786 | 38.15% | 12,597 | 61.73% | 24 | 0.12% | -4,811 | -23.58% | 20,407 |
| Calhoun | 1,608 | 49.22% | 1,654 | 50.63% | 5 | 0.15% | -46 | -1.41% | 3,267 |
| Carroll | 3,097 | 32.88% | 6,282 | 66.70% | 39 | 0.41% | -3,185 | -33.82% | 9,418 |
| Cass | 3,692 | 47.85% | 4,015 | 52.04% | 8 | 0.10% | -323 | -4.19% | 7,715 |
| Champaign | 17,115 | 37.66% | 27,793 | 61.16% | 533 | 1.17% | -10,678 | -23.50% | 45,441 |
| Christian | 10,207 | 52.38% | 9,263 | 47.54% | 15 | 0.08% | 944 | 4.84% | 19,485 |
| Clark | 3,949 | 42.59% | 5,319 | 57.36% | 5 | 0.05% | -1,370 | -14.77% | 9,273 |
| Clay | 3,394 | 39.75% | 5,134 | 60.13% | 10 | 0.12% | -1,740 | -20.38% | 8,538 |
| Clinton | 6,188 | 51.99% | 5,709 | 47.96% | 6 | 0.05% | 479 | 4.03% | 11,903 |
| Coles | 8,629 | 41.46% | 12,166 | 58.45% | 19 | 0.09% | -3,537 | -16.99% | 20,814 |
| Cook | 1,378,343 | 56.37% | 1,059,607 | 43.33% | 7,319 | 0.30% | 318,736 | 13.04% | 2,445,269 |
| Crawford | 4,245 | 38.39% | 6,809 | 61.58% | 4 | 0.04% | -2,564 | -23.19% | 11,058 |
| Cumberland | 2,475 | 45.00% | 3,020 | 54.91% | 5 | 0.09% | -545 | -9.91% | 5,500 |
| DeKalb | 6,783 | 30.30% | 15,586 | 69.62% | 19 | 0.08% | -8,803 | -39.32% | 22,388 |
| DeWitt | 3,607 | 41.51% | 5,074 | 58.40% | 8 | 0.09% | -1,467 | -16.89% | 8,689 |
| Douglas | 3,532 | 37.98% | 5,761 | 61.95% | 6 | 0.06% | -2,229 | -23.97% | 9,299 |
| DuPage | 44,263 | 30.43% | 101,014 | 69.45% | 168 | 0.12% | -56,751 | -39.02% | 145,445 |
| Edgar | 5,024 | 40.59% | 7,348 | 59.37% | 4 | 0.03% | -2,324 | -18.78% | 12,376 |
| Edwards | 1,446 | 30.47% | 3,291 | 69.36% | 8 | 0.17% | -1,845 | -38.89% | 4,745 |
| Effingham | 5,676 | 46.94% | 6,410 | 53.01% | 6 | 0.05% | -734 | -6.07% | 12,092 |
| Fayette | 4,907 | 42.65% | 6,586 | 57.25% | 11 | 0.10% | -1,679 | -14.60% | 11,504 |
| Ford | 2,698 | 31.82% | 5,779 | 68.16% | 1 | 0.01% | -3,081 | -36.34% | 8,478 |
| Franklin | 11,368 | 48.86% | 11,861 | 50.98% | 37 | 0.16% | -493 | -2.12% | 23,266 |
| Fulton | 10,194 | 45.81% | 11,999 | 53.93% | 58 | 0.26% | -1,805 | -8.12% | 22,251 |
| Gallatin | 2,386 | 52.21% | 2,179 | 47.68% | 5 | 0.11% | 207 | 4.53% | 4,570 |
| Greene | 3,847 | 46.10% | 4,487 | 53.78% | 10 | 0.12% | -640 | -7.68% | 8,344 |
| Grundy | 4,276 | 38.08% | 6,948 | 61.88% | 4 | 0.04% | -2,672 | -23.80% | 11,228 |
| Hamilton | 2,639 | 40.89% | 3,804 | 58.94% | 11 | 0.17% | -1,165 | -18.05% | 6,454 |
| Hancock | 4,947 | 38.08% | 8,036 | 61.86% | 7 | 0.05% | -3,089 | -23.78% | 12,990 |
| Hardin | 1,465 | 42.92% | 1,944 | 56.96% | 4 | 0.12% | -479 | -14.04% | 3,413 |
| Henderson | 1,697 | 39.71% | 2,572 | 60.19% | 4 | 0.09% | -875 | -20.48% | 4,273 |
| Henry | 10,372 | 42.01% | 14,297 | 57.91% | 21 | 0.09% | -3,925 | -15.90% | 24,690 |
| Iroquois | 5,821 | 33.82% | 11,376 | 66.09% | 16 | 0.09% | -5,555 | -32.27% | 17,213 |
| Jackson | 8,527 | 44.62% | 10,568 | 55.30% | 17 | 0.09% | -2,041 | -10.68% | 19,112 |
| Jasper | 3,027 | 47.14% | 3,393 | 52.84% | 1 | 0.02% | -366 | -5.70% | 6,421 |
| Jefferson | 7,784 | 44.16% | 9,841 | 55.84% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,057 | -11.68% | 17,625 |
| Jersey | 4,087 | 48.99% | 4,247 | 50.90% | 9 | 0.11% | -160 | -1.91% | 8,343 |
| Jo Daviess | 4,293 | 41.21% | 6,111 | 58.66% | 13 | 0.12% | -1,818 | -17.45% | 10,417 |
| Johnson | 1,413 | 33.67% | 2,778 | 66.19% | 6 | 0.14% | -1,365 | -32.52% | 4,197 |
| Kane | 31,279 | 36.05% | 55,389 | 63.84% | 93 | 0.11% | -24,110 | -27.79% | 86,761 |
| Kankakee | 17,115 | 45.70% | 20,311 | 54.23% | 26 | 0.07% | -3,196 | -8.53% | 37,452 |
| Kendall | 2,242 | 27.25% | 5,975 | 72.62% | 11 | 0.13% | -3,733 | -45.37% | 8,228 |
| Knox | 11,889 | 39.83% | 17,938 | 60.09% | 23 | 0.08% | -6,049 | -20.26% | 29,850 |
| Lake | 46,941 | 40.85% | 67,809 | 59.02% | 149 | 0.13% | -20,868 | -18.17% | 114,899 |
| LaSalle | 27,532 | 49.94% | 27,552 | 49.98% | 41 | 0.07% | -20 | -0.04% | 55,125 |
| Lawrence | 3,667 | 37.42% | 6,120 | 62.45% | 13 | 0.13% | -2,453 | -25.03% | 9,800 |
| Lee | 5,896 | 35.22% | 10,835 | 64.73% | 8 | 0.05% | -4,939 | -29.51% | 16,739 |
| Livingston | 6,642 | 33.57% | 13,139 | 66.42% | 2 | 0.01% | -6,497 | -32.85% | 19,783 |
| Logan | 5,691 | 37.71% | 9,383 | 62.18% | 16 | 0.11% | -3,692 | -24.47% | 15,090 |
| Macon | 26,029 | 48.85% | 27,151 | 50.95% | 108 | 0.20% | -1,122 | -2.10% | 53,288 |
| Macoupin | 13,120 | 52.70% | 11,731 | 47.12% | 45 | 0.18% | 1,389 | 5.58% | 24,896 |
| Madison | 54,787 | 55.96% | 42,984 | 43.90% | 133 | 0.14% | 11,803 | 12.06% | 97,904 |
| Marion | 9,116 | 45.02% | 11,121 | 54.92% | 13 | 0.06% | -2,005 | -9.90% | 20,250 |
| Marshall | 2,981 | 41.76% | 4,150 | 58.14% | 7 | 0.10% | -1,169 | -16.38% | 7,138 |
| Mason | 3,824 | 46.75% | 4,337 | 53.02% | 19 | 0.23% | -513 | -6.27% | 8,180 |
| Massac | 2,644 | 36.87% | 4,521 | 63.05% | 6 | 0.08% | -1,877 | -26.18% | 7,171 |
| McDonough | 4,520 | 32.53% | 9,363 | 67.39% | 10 | 0.07% | -4,843 | -34.86% | 13,893 |
| McHenry | 12,659 | 32.87% | 25,787 | 66.97% | 62 | 0.16% | -13,128 | -34.10% | 38,508 |
| McLean | 13,971 | 36.04% | 24,758 | 63.87% | 32 | 0.08% | -10,787 | -27.83% | 38,761 |
| Menard | 2,068 | 39.82% | 3,120 | 60.08% | 5 | 0.10% | -1,052 | -20.26% | 5,193 |
| Mercer | 3,476 | 38.36% | 5,582 | 61.60% | 3 | 0.03% | -2,106 | -23.24% | 9,061 |
| Monroe | 3,398 | 41.78% | 4,731 | 58.17% | 4 | 0.05% | -1,333 | -16.39% | 8,133 |
| Montgomery | 8,815 | 48.95% | 9,178 | 50.97% | 14 | 0.08% | -363 | -2.02% | 18,007 |
| Morgan | 7,259 | 42.54% | 9,791 | 57.38% | 12 | 0.07% | -2,532 | -14.84% | 17,062 |
| Moultrie | 3,079 | 45.07% | 3,752 | 54.93% | 0 | 0.00% | -673 | -9.86% | 6,831 |
| Ogle | 4,792 | 26.59% | 13,226 | 73.38% | 7 | 0.04% | -8,434 | -46.79% | 18,025 |
| Peoria | 39,061 | 46.13% | 45,529 | 53.77% | 86 | 0.10% | -6,468 | -7.64% | 84,676 |
| Perry | 4,958 | 42.48% | 6,708 | 57.47% | 6 | 0.05% | -1,750 | -14.99% | 11,672 |
| Piatt | 2,889 | 39.05% | 4,506 | 60.90% | 4 | 0.05% | -1,617 | -21.85% | 7,399 |
| Pike | 5,461 | 47.75% | 5,965 | 52.16% | 10 | 0.09% | -504 | -4.41% | 11,436 |
| Pope | 971 | 36.44% | 1,689 | 63.38% | 5 | 0.19% | -718 | -26.94% | 2,665 |
| Pulaski | 2,322 | 46.81% | 2,621 | 52.83% | 18 | 0.36% | -299 | -6.02% | 4,961 |
| Putnam | 1,160 | 44.29% | 1,457 | 55.63% | 2 | 0.08% | -297 | -11.34% | 2,619 |
| Randolph | 7,344 | 47.85% | 7,988 | 52.05% | 15 | 0.10% | -644 | -4.20% | 15,347 |
| Richland | 3,015 | 36.09% | 5,329 | 63.80% | 9 | 0.11% | -2,314 | -27.71% | 8,353 |
| Rock Island | 33,812 | 50.88% | 32,534 | 48.96% | 108 | 0.16% | 1,278 | 1.92% | 66,454 |
| Saline | 6,835 | 43.52% | 8,853 | 56.36% | 19 | 0.12% | -2,018 | -12.84% | 15,707 |
| Sangamon | 35,793 | 46.28% | 41,483 | 53.64% | 59 | 0.08% | -5,690 | -7.36% | 77,335 |
| Schuyler | 2,115 | 40.96% | 3,047 | 59.00% | 2 | 0.04% | -932 | -18.04% | 5,164 |
| Scott | 1,543 | 40.46% | 2,267 | 59.44% | 4 | 0.10% | -724 | -18.98% | 3,814 |
| Shelby | 5,720 | 45.39% | 6,872 | 54.53% | 11 | 0.09% | -1,152 | -9.14% | 12,603 |
| St. Clair | 67,367 | 61.38% | 42,046 | 38.31% | 338 | 0.31% | 25,321 | 23.07% | 109,751 |
| Stark | 1,383 | 32.06% | 2,925 | 67.80% | 6 | 0.14% | -1,542 | -35.74% | 4,314 |
| Stephenson | 8,055 | 36.62% | 13,872 | 63.07% | 68 | 0.31% | -5,817 | -26.45% | 21,995 |
| Tazewell | 20,521 | 46.09% | 23,967 | 53.83% | 38 | 0.09% | -3,446 | -7.74% | 44,526 |
| Union | 4,321 | 49.31% | 4,432 | 50.58% | 10 | 0.11% | -111 | -1.27% | 8,763 |
| Vermilion | 19,702 | 42.51% | 26,571 | 57.34% | 69 | 0.15% | -6,869 | -14.83% | 46,342 |
| Wabash | 3,013 | 41.40% | 4,261 | 58.55% | 4 | 0.05% | -1,248 | -17.15% | 7,278 |
| Warren | 3,835 | 34.66% | 7,221 | 65.25% | 10 | 0.09% | -3,386 | -30.59% | 11,066 |
| Washington | 3,093 | 37.92% | 5,053 | 61.95% | 11 | 0.13% | -1,960 | -24.03% | 8,157 |
| Wayne | 3,954 | 37.25% | 6,652 | 62.67% | 9 | 0.08% | -2,698 | -25.42% | 10,615 |
| White | 4,756 | 44.97% | 5,810 | 54.93% | 11 | 0.10% | -1,054 | -9.96% | 10,577 |
| Whiteside | 9,112 | 34.27% | 17,434 | 65.56% | 46 | 0.17% | -8,322 | -31.29% | 26,592 |
| Will | 41,056 | 49.04% | 42,575 | 50.86% | 81 | 0.10% | -1,519 | -1.82% | 83,712 |
| Williamson | 11,335 | 45.17% | 13,732 | 54.72% | 29 | 0.12% | -2,397 | -9.55% | 25,096 |
| Winnebago | 40,090 | 44.67% | 49,541 | 55.20% | 110 | 0.12% | -9,451 | -10.53% | 89,741 |
| Woodford | 4,401 | 35.18% | 8,101 | 64.76% | 7 | 0.06% | -3,700 | -29.58% | 12,509 |
| Totals | 2,377,846 | 49.98% | 2,368,988 | 49.80% | 10,575 | 0.22% | 8,858 | 0.18% | 4,757,409 |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Alexander
* Cook
* Christian
* Clinton
* Rock Island

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Union

## Analysis

Some, including Republican legislators and journalists, believed that Kennedy benefited from vote fraud from Mayor Richard J. Daley's powerful Chicago political machine.
Daley's machine was known for "delivering whopping Democratic tallies by fair means and foul." Republicans tried and failed to overturn the results at the time—as well as in ten other states. Some journalists also later claimed that mobster Sam Giancana and his Chicago crime syndicate "played a role" in Kennedy's victory. Nixon's campaign staff urged him to pursue recounts and challenge the validity of Kennedy's victory, but Nixon gave a speech three days after the election that he would not contest the election.
A myth arose that Daley held back much of the Chicago vote until the late morning hours of November 9. However, when the Republican Chicago Tribune went to press, 79% of Cook County precincts had reported, compared to just 62% of Illinois's precincts overall. Moreover, Nixon never led in Illinois, and Kennedy's lead merely shrank as election night went on. Earl Mazo, a reporter for the pro-Nixon New York Herald Tribune and his biographer, investigated the voting in Chicago and "claimed to have discovered sufficient evidence of vote fraud to prove that the state was stolen for Kennedy."
A special prosecutor assigned to the case brought charges against 650 people, who were acquitted by a judge who was considered a "Daley machine loyalist." Three Chicago election workers were convicted of voter fraud in 1962 and served short terms in jail. Mazo, the Herald-Tribune reporter, later said that he "found names of the dead who had voted in Chicago, along with 56 people from one house." He found cases of Republican voter fraud in southern Illinois but said that the totals "did not match the Chicago fraud he found."
An academic study in 1985 later analyzed the ballots of two disputed precincts in Chicago which were subject to a recount. It found that while there was a pattern of miscounting votes to the advantage of Democratic candidates, Nixon suffered less than Republicans in other races, and the extrapolated error would have reduced his Illinois margin only from 8,858 votes, the final official total, to just under 8,000. It concluded there was insufficient evidence that he had been cheated out of winning Illinois.
Even if enough legitimate systemic fraud was discovered in Illinois to give Nixon the state, that alone would not have been enough to win him the presidency. Kennedy would've still been left with 276 electoral votes, seven more than what he needed to win the White House.

### Recount

Ben Adamowski, a Republican who lost reelection as Cook County State's Attorney to Democratic nominee Daniel P. Ward, requested a recount of the state's attorney race. Republicans sought to use this recount, as they could not order a recount of the presidential results, to prove that fraud had been committed in the presidential election. Sidney Holzman, the chair of the Board of Election Commissioners, stated that only the three BEC members could handle the ballots and would only recount the ballots for the state's attorney election. Judge Thaddeus Adesko ruled that twenty-five teams of counters had to be used and that the other elections would be included in the recount.
The recount was finished on December 9, and showed that in six towns around Chicago, mistakes of ten votes or more in favor of Kennedy occurred in 3.1% of the precincts, those in favor of Nixon occurred in 2.6%, and those in favor of third-parties occurred in 4.8%. 11% of the precincts in Chicago had errors of ten votes or more in Kennedy's favor and 8.6% in Nixon's favor. Kennedy's vote was overcounted in 38% of Chicago's precincts while Nixon's vote was overcounted in 40%. Nixon's total was increased by 926 votes.
Republicans accused the election commission of manipulating the recount and Adamowski successfully sued for another recount in 1961, although only his election was recounted. The original recount increased his vote total by 9.073 while the second one increased his total by 12.694 per precinct.