Former President Donald Trump should be removed from Illinois’ primary ballot, but the decision should be left to the courts, a retired judge recommended Sunday to the state’s election board, arguing that it was clear Trump engaged in insurrection in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Illinois State Board of Elections is expected to consider the recommendation Tuesday. Attorneys for Trump and citizens seeking to keep the Republican former president off the ballot presented their arguments Friday before the hearing officer, Clark Erickson. The retired longtime Kankakee County judge is a Republican.
The Illinois effort to keep Trump off the March ballot is similar to those filed in several other states. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next month in an historic Colorado Supreme Court ruling to remove Trump from that state’s ballot. The case presents the high court with its first look at a provision of the 14th Amendment barring some people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office.
Erickson’s 21-page recommendation concluded that a “preponderance of the evidence” presented proves that Trump engaged in insurrection.
Someone else below got downvoted for saying it and I don’t understand why. But these cases really are pointless until the SC makes its ruling.
If the SC lets the Colorado case stand and removes him from the ballot, then the SC would be declaring him ineligible for the Presidency, effectively removing him from the ballot nationwide. If the SC strikes down the CO ruling and puts him back on the ballot, then all these other cases that the states are putting on hold pending the resolution of the CO case become moot. At this point, given the legal limbo that everything is in until the court makes its ruling, statements like this are little more than political posturing. The SC is going to decide if he is on or if he’s off.