Illinois voters trying to boot Trump from ballot file legal challenge after election board defeat

CHICAGO– A group of voters seeking to remove former President Donald Trump’s name from the Illinois primary over the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol has taken the fight to court after the state’s Board of Elections unanimously rejected the effort.

The expected legal challenge was filed in Cook Court on Tuesday, hours after the bipartisan Illinois State Board of Elections voted to retain Republican on the March 19 ballot. The five electors argue that Trump is ineligible for office because he encouraged the riot at the Capitol and did little to stop it.

Dozens of similar cases have been filed in other states seeking to bar Trump from the presidency under a provision of the 14th Amendment that bars some people “involved in the insurrection” from holding public office. The Colorado case is the only one that has succeeded in court. Most other courts and election officials have examined the issue on similar grounds to Illinois and concluded that they do not have jurisdiction to rule on the obscure constitutional question.

The issue will likely be decided at a higher court, with the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear arguments next week in Trump’s appeal of the Colorado ruling declaring him ineligible to run for president in that state.

Illinois voters, along with the national voting organization Free Speech for People, argued in their petition for judicial review that the Board of Elections has the authority to determine Trump’s eligibility. Trump attorney Adam Merrill told reporters on Tuesday that he was satisfied with the election board’s decision and was prepared to respond to any legal action.