State hearing officer recommended on Sunday that the decision on whether to exclude him from Illinois’ primary ballot should be made by the courts rather than the State Board of Elections.
The objection to Trump’s candidacy in Illinois was filed by five state voters, a national voting-rights organization, which is actively working to prevent Trump from being on the ballot, and two Chicago law firms.
This case is part of a broader strategy across multiple states to prevent Trump from appearing on the 2024 ballot.
The strategy is based on interpreting the 14th Amendment, which prohibits individuals involved in insurrection from seeking public office.
The US Supreme Court is currently reviewing a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court that sought to remove Trump from that state’s ballot on the grounds of the 14th Amendment.
Illinois Board Examines Trump’s Ballot Status
On Friday, the Illinois State Board of Elections conducted a hearing regarding the matter, where legal representatives for Donald Trump and the individuals aiming to prevent him from being on the ballot presented their arguments to the hearing officer, Clark Erickson. Erickson, a retired and longtime judge from Kankakee County who identifies as a Republican, issued a written recommendation, which WBEZ obtained.
This recommendation has been submitted to the state election board, which is scheduled to hold a hearing on Tuesday to deliberate on the next steps.
Erickson’s recommendation suggests that the determination of whether the 14th Amendment prohibits Trump’s candidacy should be left to the courts.
However, he also provided a severe critique of Trump’s role in the insurrection, expressing in his written statement that the former president “fanned the flames” that contributed to the Capitol breach and attempts to illegitimately overturn the 2020 presidential election.
A representative from the voting rights organization involved in the objection in Illinois commended the determination made by the hearing officer, which essentially concluded that Trump was involved in an insurrection.
The group expressed optimism that either the state elections board or the courts in Illinois would utilize this conclusion to prevent Trump from appearing on the state’s ballot.