Courts & Litigation

Trump Disqualified from Illinois Primary Ballot

Hyemin Han
Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 8:11 PM

Illinois is the third state in which the former president has been found ineligible for the presidential primary ballot. 

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On Feb. 28, Illinois Circuit Judge Tracie R. Porter ruled that Donald Trump is ineligible to be listed on the Illinois primary ballot for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, making Illinois the third state in which the former president's ballot eligibility has been successfully challenged. Judge Porter's decision in the Circuit Court of Cook County overturns the Illinois Electoral Board's earlier decision granting Trump's motion to dismiss and rejecting the petitioners' objections petition.

The court found that Section 3 applies to Trump; that Trump "engaged" in insurrection (in part based on the factual findings of the Electoral Board's Record); that Section 3 is self-executing; and that Section 3 is a qualification requirement that Trump fails to meet. Because of this, the court found that Trump's Statement of Candidacy verifying that he was "legally qualified" for the office he seeks is invalid, and that thus, he should be removed from the ballot.

The decision is stayed until March 1 in anticipation of a further appeal. It is also stayed if the Supreme Court issues a decision in Anderson v. Griswold that is inconsistent with this determination. Illinois's presidential primary is on March 19. 

You can read the decision here or below. It is also on the Trump Disqualification Tracker.

 


Hyemin Han is an associate editor of Lawfare and is based in Washington, D.C. Previously, she worked in eviction defense and has interned on Capitol Hill and with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She holds a BA in government from Dartmouth College, where she was editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth independent daily.

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