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Illinois election officials to weigh recommendation to remove Trump's name from March primary ballot

FILE - Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. On Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, a retired judge recommended to Illinois election officials that former President Trump's name should be removed from the Illinois primary ballot, but the decision should be left to the courts. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) (Jose Luis Magana, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

CHICAGO ā€“ 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.

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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 stateā€™s ballot. The case presents the high court with its first look at a provision of the 14th Amendment barring some people who ā€œengaged in insurrectionā€ from holding public office.

Ericksonā€™s 21-page recommendation concluded that a ā€œpreponderance of the evidenceā€ presented proves that Trump engaged in insurrection.

But he said the election board can't engage in the ā€œsignificant and sophisticated constitutional analysisā€ required to remove Trumpā€™s name before the March 19 primary.

ā€œAll in all, attempting to resolve a constitutional issue within the expedited schedule of an election board hearing is somewhat akin to scheduling a two-minute round between heavyweight boxers in a telephone booth,ā€ he wrote.

Still, Erickson noted that even if the board disagrees with his reasoning, Trump's name should be removed from the Illinois primary ballot.

The election board is split evenly between four Democrats and four Republicans.

Free Speech for People, which is leading the Illinois ballot effort, praised the recommendation from the Republican retired judge as ā€œsignificantā€ but argued that Illinois law allows the board to make the ballot decision.

ā€œWe expect that the board and ultimately Illinois courts will uphold Judge Ericksonā€™s thoughtful analysis of why Trump is disqualified from office, but ā€” with the greatest respect ā€” correct him on why Illinois law authorizes that ruling,ā€ Ron Fein, legal director for the group, wrote in a Sunday statement.

Trump's campaign did not immediately return a message left Sunday.


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