McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio said his job remains “unchanged” following a push from President Donald Trump to nationalize elections and a call by the Democratic Party to disavow that push.

The president has called for the federal government to run elections, but the Constitution entrusts that responsibilty to states.

Trump’s comments prompted McHenry County Democratic Party Chair Ruth Scifo put out a statement calling on Tirio – a Republican who runs McHenry County elections and is himself up for reelection this year – to condemn Trump’s efforts.

Scifo said Tirio, as clerk, has a “fundamental responsibility to protect the integrity, independence, and localized administration of our voting process” and that Trump’s rhetoric threatens state and local management of elections. Scifo said the current system is “designed to ensure accountability and prevent centralized interference.”

She said local professionals and volunteers should be the ones to administer elections and that centralizing election authority undermines voters’ trust and ignores the needs of a diverse community.

“The bedrock of our democracy is the local control of our elections,” Scifo said in part in a news release. “Our residents deserve to know that their Clerk stands for the independence of our local precinct committeemen, election judges and staff, rather than yielding to partisan calls for federal consolidation.”

Scifo added the Democrats believe election security is not a partisan issue and Tirio can affirm his commitment to local accountability and voter confidence if he condemns the push to nationalize elections. Scifo said Tirio can uphold the Tenth Amendment, which she said gives states the power to administer elections.

Tirio responded to Scifo’s call for him to denounce Trump’s efforts to nationalize elections. Tirio did not directly mention the president or explicitly say whether he agreed with Trump’s push to nationalize elections.

Tirio said in a statement the 10th Amendment “is a general rule that reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people” and Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution lays out the constitutional framework for federal elections.

Under that framework, state legislatures set the “Times, Places and Manner” for electing Congress, but “the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such regulations,” Tirio said, quoting directly from the clause.

Tirio said that means Congress can establish uniform rules for federal elections that “override contrary state law, while the states retain primary responsibility for running elections unless and until Congress acts.”

But, Tirio added, “it has never meant that a County Clerk may pick and choose which constitutional provisions or federal laws to follow based on who occupies the White House or which party runs Congress.”

Tirio said in response to Scifo’s request that if there’s a duly enacted law or a new constitutional amendment that changes the balance of state and federal authority over elections, he will “faithfully follow” that law and “will have more to say about how it affects McHenry County voters.

Until that happens, my job is unchanged, my commitment is unchanged, and my promise to uphold the Constitution and to run fair, secure, and transparent elections for the people of McHenry County remains unchanged.”

Tirio said when he took office, he swore an oath to support the U.S. and state constitutions and faithfully discharge the duties of the clerk, using language mirroring oaths elected officials take, and he has no intention of violating his oath.

“People who have worked with me and watched this office over the years know that is true: Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, election judges, precinct committeepersons, my fellow clerks, my staff, members of the County Board, and other elected officials. I believe you know it too, Chair Scifo,” Tirio said.

He said people he meets across the county can trust him with their vote because he has been with and for people “through it all.”

He said he has been there from eliminating the recorder’s office, which merged with the clerk’s office in 2020, and administering elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s included “one of the most contentious elections in our nation’s recent history under some of the most challenging circumstances in the last century,” Tirio said, without offering further details about that election in the statement.

Tirio, who was first elected recorder in 2016 and clerk in 2018, is seeking reelection this year. He does not have a primary opponent, but will face Democrat Bill McNeese in the November general election.