Trump Illinois Ballot Challenge Arguments To Go Before Cook County Judge

CHICAGO — An appellate judge on Thursday denied an emergency motion from former President Donald Trump to delay an effort to disqualify him from the Illinois ballot due to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Oral arguments are scheduled to take place Friday morning at the Daley Center, as attorneys for a group of voters who filed an objection to Trump's inclusion on the ballot ask a Cook County judge to reverse an Illinois State Electoral Board decision.

The voters argue the former president is disqualified from receiving votes during his third campaign for the White House because he "engaged in insurrection" — in violation of a clause in the 14th Amendment that was originally intended for confederates but that, prior to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, was only ever used against a Milwaukee socialist.

In a unanimous Jan. 30 decision, the election board's hearing officer, Republican former Judge Clark Erickson, found that while a "preponderance of the evidence" indicated Trump is ineligible under the insurrection clause, the board does not have the authority to make constitutional determinations.

Ron Fein, legal director of the nonprofit Free Speech For People, which is co-lead counsel in the case with Ed Mullen and Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, immediately announced plans to take the matter to the courts.

“On appeal, we expect that the Illinois courts will uphold Judge Erickson’s thoughtful analysis of why Trump is disqualified from office," Fein said, "but — with the greatest respect — correct him and the Board on why Illinois law authorizes that ruling despite Trump’s subjective belief that the Constitution doesn’t apply to him.”

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Trump's appeal of a Colorado Supreme Court decision keeping him off the ballot there. It has yet to make a decision, and Trump's attorneys have sought to get both Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter and the 1st District Appellate Court to delay the Illinois case until that ruling.

Read more:

• Effort To Remove Donald Trump From Illinois Ballot Shifts To Courts
• Trump Stays On Illinois Ballot In Unanimous ISBE Ruling
• Trump Ballot Challenge Filed With Illinois State Board Of Elections