Illinois judge disqualifies Trump from GOP primary ballot because of ex-prez’s role in Jan. 6
An Illinois judge on Wednesday barred former President Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s Republican primary ballot over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
Illinois is the third state to remove Trump, 77, from primary ballots citing the Fourteenth Amendment’s so-called “insurrection clause,” joining Colorado and Maine.
Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter, a Democrat, paused her order until March 1 in order to give the former president time to appeal.
Porter’s decision overruled the bipartisan Illinois State Board of Elections, which dismissed a challenge to Trump’s candidacy last month after determining that the panel didn’t have the authority to rule on whether the GOP front-runner’s role in the riot violated the Constitution.
“This Court shares the Colorado Supreme Court’s sentiments that did not reach its conclusion lightly,” Porter wrote in her 72-page ruling.
“This Court also realizes the magnitude of this decision and its impact on the upcoming primary Illinois elections.”
“This Court’s final determination on this issue is that [Trump] fails to meet the Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment’s disqualification provision based on engaging in insurrection on January 6, 2021, and his name should be removed from the ballot.”
The challenge to Trump’s candidacy in Illinois was spearheaded by liberal advocacy group Free Speech For People.
The Colorado Supreme Court’s December ruling booting Trump from the ballot is pending before the US Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in Trump’s favor.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, also determined in December that Trump is ineligible to appear on her state’s primary ballots.
Echoing the Colorado court, Bellows cited the Constitution’s insurrection clause in her order.
Her ruling is on hold pending the US Supreme Court’s decision in Trump’s appeal of the Colorado order.
The high court has never ruled on a case involving Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was adopted in 1868 to prevent former Confederates from returning to office after the Civil War but has rarely been used since then.
Some legal scholars say the post-Civil War clause applies to Trump for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and encouraging his backers to storm the US Capitol after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Dozens of cases have been filed around the country seeking to bar Trump from the presidency under Section 3.
Trump’s attorneys have argued that the provision is vague, unclear and that Jan. 6 doesn’t meet the legal definition of an insurrection.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung has previously argued that the myriad 14th Amendment challenges to Trump’s candidacy are “bad-faith” and “bogus,” pointing to court rulings in Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Arizona, Florida, Rhode Island and West Virginia that declared the former president could appear on state primary ballots.
Illinois State Board of Elections member Jack Vrett, a Republican, warned that removing Trump from the state ballot would create a dangerous precedent.
“If we allowed them to say, ‘Don’t just look at the papers, look at the underlying allegations,’ that would open a floodgate,” Vrett said.
“Every possible school board candidate would seek to challenge the qualification” of their rival, he added, “based on some alleged criminal conduct.”
The Illinois GOP primary will take place on March 19.
