Trump ‘Engaged in Insurrection’ but Shouldn’t Be Banned From Illinois Ballots: Judge

Former President Donald Trump should not be barred from appearing on Illinois ballots, as the issue of his potential disqualification from the 2024 elections is a matter for the courts, not something that an election board can decide, an ex-judge said on Sunday.

On Friday, retired state judge and Republican, Clark Erikson, presided over a petition hearing that sought to prevent President Trump from appearing on Illinois’ primary ballots. The petition, filed with the Illinois Board of Elections, argued that the former president “cannot satisfy the eligibility requirements” for becoming POTUS, as he allegedly violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

In a written recommendation submitted to the Illinois State Board of Elections on Sunday, Mr. Erikson stated that Illinois law prohibits the election board from addressing issues involving constitutional analysis. This case, which requires a decision on whether Section 3 applies to President Trump, falls under that category, Mr. Erikson explained.

It is “impossible” for the board to decide whether the GOP candidate is disqualified by Section 3 without engaging in “significant and sophisticated constitutional analysis,” he wrote.

Trying to resolve this constitutional issue within the schedule of an election board hearing is “akin to scheduling a two-minute round between heavyweight boxers in a telephone booth,” Mr. Erikson added. The election board is set to vote on the petition Tuesday.

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Since the board is expected to handle matters quickly to ensure the voting process is not delayed, it is not suited to engage in constitutional analysis. These issues “belong in the Courts.”

Mr. Erikson recommended that the board dismiss the petition, which would allow President Trump to be listed on the ballot.

However, if the board chooses not to heed this recommendation, Mr. Erickson said that enough evidence was presented during the Friday hearing to prove that President Trump “engaged in insurrection, within the meaning of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Therefore the former president’s name can be “removed from the March 2024 primary ballot in Illinois,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, the eight-member bipartisan panel of the Illinois State Board of Elections will decide whether to accept Mr. Erickson’s recommendation. The panel is composed of four Republicans and four Democrats. Any decision made by the board can be appealed in state courts in Illinois.

Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech For People, which serves as co-lead counsel in the petition, said they expect the election board and eventually the courts to “uphold Judge Erickson’s thoughtful analysis of why Trump is disqualified from office.”

The Illinois primary is scheduled for March 19.

Lawsuits to Block Trump

Similar to Illinois, attempts have been made in other states to remove President Trump from the ballots. In Michigan and Minnesota, such lawsuits have been dismissed on procedural grounds. However, in some states, decisions have been put on hold pending the outcome of the lawsuit in Colorado.

“This Court should grant certiorari to consider this question of paramount importance, summarily reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, and return the right to vote for their candidate of choice to the voters,” it said.

The Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling marked the “first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate.”

Moreover, even if he were subjected to Section 3, President Trump did not engage in any activity that would qualify as insurrection, the brief argued.

“Efforts are underway in more than 30 states to remove President Trump from the primary and general-election ballots based on similar rationales.”

The U.S. Supreme Court “should put a swift and decisive end to these ballot-disqualification efforts, which threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and which promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado’s lead and exclude the likely Republican presidential nominee from their ballots.”