(LifeSiteNews) — The bipartisan Illinois Board of Elections voted unanimously against removing former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballots amid an ongoing legal battle over his placement on the ballots of other states.
In December, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Trump was ineligible for the presidency under the Disqualification Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that “[n]o person” may “hold any office” who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States “or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Democrats argue, and the court agreed, that Trump “engaged in insurrection” by calling for the infamous January 6, 2021 demonstration to protest Congressional certification of his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, which devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol Building. The FBI eventually had to admit it did not find evidence that the riot was intended by Trump or otherwise planned by those around him. The U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed that it will review the ruling next month.
The Epoch Times reported that Illinois election officials made the decision on the recommendation of Marni Malowitz, the board’s general counsel. An anti-Trump group called Free Speech for People had filed the petition against Trump; the board also unanimously rejected two petitions to remove Biden, Trump’s opponent.
“Hard cases make bad law,” board member Jack Vrett said. “If we exceeded our authority… and looked at the underlying of conduct… I think what we would see would be an opening of floodgates of litigation.”
As a practical matter, the challenge was not expected to play a significant role in the 2024 election’s outcome; Illinois has not chosen a Republican for president since 1988. But if successful, the challenges to Trump’s eligibility still awaiting resolution in more than a dozen states could set significant precedents. All are expected to be rendered moot by the Supreme Court’s impending decision, as even some anti-Trump liberals have acknowledged that disqualifying Trump is likely unconstitutional.
Trump maintains a commanding lead for the Republican presidential nomination over his last remaining GOP competitor, former Trump administration United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
Fluctuating national polls currently have Trump narrowly leading a close race with Biden should the former president be nominated, although voters also say that potential convictions in his various ongoing trials will make them less likely to support him. It’s also speculated that Democrats may replace Biden with a younger Democrat such as Gavin Newsom or Dean Phillips, and it is not yet certain which candidate would lose more votes to Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s third-party presidential run.