The Illinois State Board of Elections (SBE) is deciding whether to remove former President Donald Trump from the state's Republican primary after a small number of voters filed a petition claiming he was disqualified from holding public office. A decisive vote will be held this month.
The petition, like those filed in more than a dozen other states, cites the 14th Amendment, which requires a person to have previously sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and later sworn to the Constitution. Persons who “participated in rebellion or rebellion” are prohibited from holding public office. Do you give “aid and comfort” to your country, or do you give “aid and comfort” to your enemy?
The 87-page document, signed by five people in the state, alleges that President Trump encouraged and supported those who protested at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The SBE now has to decide whether Trump remains an option for Republican voters in the March 19 primary.
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Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures as he leaves a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, Dec. 19, 2023. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the Illinois General Assembly, told Fox News Digital that the case will be assigned to a hearing officer at a special board meeting on Jan. 17. Dietrich said the hearing officer is typically an election attorney, former judge or trial attorney. Retired member of Illinois SBE executive staff.
The Hearing Officer is tasked with scheduling hearings on challenges with the parties and providing recommendations to SBE's General Counsel. Dietrich said the general counsel will then recommend the issue to the full board, which will hear the matter on Jan. 30.
“Ultimately, eight appointed members of the Illinois State Board of Elections (four Democrats, four Republicans) will attend the State Employees Elections Board and vote on any objections.” Dietrich explained. “Five votes are required for a board order to go into effect, so in the case of a 4-4 vote, no action will be taken and the challenge will be considered unsuccessful. However, the challenger and candidate Both parties have the right to seek judicial review of the challenge. Since the decision is unfavorable, any challenge could bring it to court.”
The preliminary ballot will be certified by the Illinois SBE at its next meeting on January 11th.
“Assuming nothing unexpected happens between today and then, Mr. Trump (and any other presidential nominee with a challenge) will have 'pending challenge' written next to their name,” Dietrich said. will be certified on the ballot.”
But that status could change depending on the board's Jan. 30 vote, Dietrich noted, in which case the board would issue a certificate of corrected ballot. added.
Following petitions from voters, the Illinois State Board of Elections must decide whether Trump remains an option for Republican voters during the March 19 primary. (George Fry/AFP via Getty Images)
Reacting to the attempt to bar Trump from participating in the state's Republican primary vote, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy told Fox News Digital, “The people, not the activist courts, are in the White House.” “I believe that you should choose who you represent.”
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Tracy noted that the Illinois Republican Party is “strictly neutral in the Republican presidential primary,” adding, “Any attempt to remove President Trump from the ballot without due process would limit the voting rights of Illinoisans.” “This is an anti-democratic attempt to do so, and should be completely rejected.” . ”
The Illinois Democratic Party did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on this story.
Dietrich said challenges to presidential candidates who have applied for the state's primary ballot will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Jan. 12.
This week, multiple candidates petitioned to participate in the state's Republican and Democratic presidential primaries, including incumbent President Biden, President Trump, former South Carolina Republican Governor Nikki Haley, and Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. I had submitted a document.
From left to right: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
The first candidate to file Thursday had a chance to win the top spot on the ballot, the Chicago Tribune reported. Candidates who waited until 4 p.m. Friday to submit were given the last chance.
Officials in Colorado and Maine have already banned Trump's name from primary election ballots. President Trump on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a Colorado Supreme Court ruling in December that stripped his name from the state's ballots.
Trump's team said in a statement to Fox News that if Colorado's ballots are blocked, it would be the first time in history that such a situation had occurred.
“More than 74 million Americans voted for President Trump in the 2020 general election, including more than 1.3 million voters in Colorado,” Trump's team said in a statement.
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“However, on December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ordered President Trump removed from the presidential primary. This ruling, if passed, would be the first time in U.S. history that a judicial system blocked voters from voting. prohibits voting for leading presidential candidates of major political parties. ”
President Trump on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a Colorado Supreme Court ruling in December that stripped his name from the state's ballots. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin, File)
Following Trump's appeal, it was announced Friday night that the high court will take up the case and set arguments for February 8.
On Tuesday, Trump appealed the decision to exclude him from Maine's Republican primary ballot. The appeal now goes to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
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FOX News' Sarah Rumpf-Witten, Luis Casiano and Bill Mears and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
