Judge orders Trump not to appear on Illinois primary ballots, but suspends ruling

2024-02-29 03:28:02

CHICAGO (AP) — A Cook County judge ruled Wednesday that the Illinois State Board of Elections must remove former President Donald Trump’s name from the state’s March 19 primary ballots. However, he stayed the effects of his own order until Friday so that an appeal can be filed.

Judge Tracie Porter issued her ruling following a group of voters seeking to remove Trump’s name from primary ballots over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol filed suit following the election board rejected unanimously his request. The five voters argued that Trump is ineligible for the presidency because he instigated and did little to stop the assault on the Capitol.

The case is one of dozens of lawsuits filed to remove Trump’s name from ballots on the grounds that he is ineligible under a rarely used clause of the 14th Amendment that prohibits anyone who “has taken part in any insurrection” holds a public office. The federal Supreme Court indicated a few weeks ago that it may reject this strategy once it hears the appeal of a Colorado ruling that removed Trump from the ballot in that state. Like the decision in Illinois, the Colorado order is stayed pending the appeal.

In his 38-page ruling, Porter wrote that the voter group’s request should be granted because they had met their burden of proof and that the Board of Elections’ decision was “clearly erroneous.”

“This is a historic win,” said Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech For People, and one of the lead attorneys in the case. “Every court or official that has addressed the merits of Trump’s constitutional eligibility has determined that he was part of an insurrection following being inaugurated and is therefore ineligible for the presidency.”

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung issued a statement saying that “a Democratic activist judge in Illinois summarily overturned the state board of elections and contradicted previous decisions by dozens of other states and federal jurisdictions. “This is an unconstitutional ruling that we will quickly appeal.”

Porter noted that his order would be suspended if the Supreme Court’s ruling is “incompatible” with his.

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