Illinois election board opts to keep Trump on primary ballots

The eight-member Illinois State Board of Elections on Tuesday ruled that former President Donald Trump could appear on the state’s 2024 presidential primary ballots. A retired judge and hearing officer for the election board had previously argued that Trump’s name should be removed from the ballots, citing what he called a preponderance of the evidence suggesting the former president had engaged in an insurrection during the events of Jan. 6, 2021. However, the hearing officer also said the board of elections should allow the courts to make that decision.

What do the events of Jan. 6 have to do with Trump’s eligibility for primary ballots? Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bars any individual who has taken an oath of office, and then subsequently engaged in an insurrection, from holding office again without Congressional approval. Voters in several states have sought to block Trump from appearing on their states’ primary ballots.

Isn’t the Supreme Court looking into this? Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether the state of Colorado can legally prevent the former president from appearing on its primary election ballots. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision that Trump was ineligible to appear on the ballots.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Stew about the state-level attempts to block Trump from their primary ballots.