An Illinois court has barred former United States President Donald Trump from appearing on Illinois’ Republican presidential primaries ballot over his role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The Cook County Circuit Judge, Tracie Porter, in a ruling on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, sided with Illinois voters who argued that the former president should be disqualified from the state’s March 19 primaries and its November 5 general election ballot for violating the anti-insurrection clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
The final outcome of the Illinois case and similar challenges will likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments related to Trump’s ballot eligibility on February 8.
Porter said she was staying her decision because she expected his appeal to Illinois’ appellate courts and a potential ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The advocacy group Free Speech For People, which spearheaded the Illinois disqualification effort, praised the ruling as a “historic victory” in a statement.
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A campaign spokesperson for Trump, the national frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, in a statement, said: “This is an unconstitutional ruling that we will quickly appeal.”
Colorado and Maine earlier removed Trump from their state ballots after determining he is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Both decisions are on hold while Trump appeals.
Section 3 bars from public office anyone who took an oath to support the U.S. Constitution and then has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Trump supporters, on January 6, 2021, attacked police and swarmed the Capitol in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Trump gave an incendiary speech to supporters beforehand, telling them to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell”. He then for hours did not act on requests that he urge the mob to stop.
The Supreme Court is currently weighing Trump’s challenge to his Colorado disqualification, according to Reuters.
The justices in Washington appeared skeptical of the decision during oral arguments in the case, expressing concerns about states taking sweeping actions that could affect the national election.
