An Illinois judge has removed former President Trump from the state’s ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause, making the Prairie State the third state to try to remove Trump from the vote.
In a lengthy ruling Wednesday, Judge Tracy Porter of Cook County, Illinois, ordered the state election board to exclude the former president from Illinois’ March 19 primary ballot.
The ruling will be stayed until March 1 so Trump’s lawyers can appeal it in Illinois state court, according to a ruling shared with The Hill. He has already filed similar voting challenges in Colorado and Maine.
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering Mr. Trump’s appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, which also invoked Section 14.th The amendment is an anti-insurrection clause that excludes former presidents from voting.
A Maine court ruled late last month that Mr. Trump can remain on the state’s ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules.
Porter pointed to the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision and called the rationale “compelling.”
“This court shares the sentiments of the Colorado Supreme Court, which did not reach its conclusion lightly,” she wrote in her decision. “This court recognizes the magnitude of this decision and its impact on future Illinois primary elections.”
Last December, Colorado became the first state to invoke the constitution’s insurrection clause to exclude a former president from voting. A state high court has concluded that President Trump participated in the riot through his role in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and that he intended to incite political violence that day.
Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chan on Wednesday slammed Porter’s ruling and vowed to “promptly” appeal the decision.
“Soros-funded Democratic front groups continue to interfere in the election and seek to deny President Trump his rightful place on the ballot,” Chan said. “Today, an activist Democratic judge in Illinois quickly overturned the State Board of Elections, contradicting previous decisions in dozens of other states and federal jurisdictions. We plan to appeal.”
Mr. Porter’s decision reverses the decision of the Illinois State Board of Elections, which unanimously voted late last month to allow Mr. Trump to remain on the state’s primary ballot. The eight-member state commission, including four Republicans and four Democrats, said at the time that it had no authority to decide the issue.
The Illinois challenge was filed by Free Speech For People, a national nonprofit group that has filed numerous voting challenges in several states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts and Oregon.
The Hill has reached out to the nonprofit organization for comment.
Story updated at 8:45 p.m.
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