An Illinois judge ordered former President Donald Trump’s name removed from the state’s 2024 presidential primary ballot, siding with a group of objectors who argued that Trump is disqualified from holding office as president under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Section 3, or the Fourteenth Amendment’s “insurrection clause,” bars individuals from holding office under the US if they have engaged in an insurrection. Opponents of Trump’s candidacy claim that he engaged in insurrection during the January 6 Capitol Attack and is therefore ineligible to be president. Trump’s lawyers have argued that the presidency is exempt from Section 3, that states cannot enforce Section 3 without congressional authorization, and that Trump’s actions on January 6 did not constitute an insurrection.
Judge Tracie R. Porter reversed a January decision from the Illinois State Board of Elections allowing Trump to be placed on the ballot, which she called “clearly erroneous.”
Porter stayed her decision to remove Trump until March 1 pending a likely appeal in state court. The order will also be stayed if the US Supreme Court finds that Trump is eligible for the office of president.
Colorado’s Supreme Court ordered Trump off that state’s ballot in late December, and Maine’s Secretary of State followed suit one week later. Trump appealed the Colorado decision to the US Supreme Court in January, which heard arguments in the case on February 8.
This is a developing story.
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