Illinois judge removes Trump from primary ballot
A judge in Illinois has removed former President Trump from the state’s ballot, under the 14th Amendment’s Insurrection Clause, making the Prairie State the third to attempt to boot Trump from the ballot.
Judge Tracie Porter in Cook County, Ill., issued her lengthy ruling Wednesday, ordering the state election board to remove the former president from Illinois’s March 19 primary ballot.
The decision is paused until March 1 to allow Trump’s legal team to appeal the decision in Illinois state courts, per the ruling shared with The Hill. He has already appealed similar ballot challenges in Colorado and Maine.
The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing Trump’s appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court decision, which similarly invoked the 14th Amendment’s insurrection ban to kick the former president off the ballot.
A court in Maine ruled late last month Trump can remain on the state’s ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision.
Porter pointed to the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, calling its rationale “compelling.”
“This Court shares the Colorado Supreme Court’s sentiments that did not reach its conclusions lightly,” she wrote in her ruling. “This Court also realizes the magnitude of this decision and it impact on the upcoming primary Illinois elections.”
Colorado was the first state to boot the former president from the ballot last December by invoking the Constitution’s insurrectionist clause. The state’s high court concluded Trump participated in an insurrection through his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and intended to incite political violence that day.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung on Wednesday railed against Porter’s ruling, vowing to “quickly” appeal the decision.
“The Soros-funded Democrat front-groups continue to attempt to interfere in the election and deny President Trump his rightful place on the ballot,” Cheung said. “Today, an activist Democrat judge in Illinois summarily overruled the state’s board of elections and contradicted earlier decisions from dozens of other state and federal jurisdictions. This is an unconstitutional ruling that we will quickly appeal.”
Porter’s decision is a reversal from the Illinois State Board of Elections, which unanimously voted late last month that Trump could remain on the state’s primary ballot. The eight-member state board — which includes four Republicans and four Democrats — said at the time it did not have the jurisdiction to decide on the matter.
The challenge in Illinois was filed by national nonprofit Free Speech For People, which has filed numerous ballot challenges in several states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts and Oregon.
The Hill reached out to the nonprofit for comment.
Story updated 8:45 p.m.
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