The Illinois Board of Elections denied a request to remove Trump from the ballot

The Illinois State Board of Elections on Tuesday refused to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot. The eight-member appointed board unanimously ruled that it did not have the authority to determine whether Trump participated in the coup based on the complaint. His decision can be appealed to the court.

The decision by the board, made up of four Republicans and four Democrats, comes a week before the US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a similar case in Colorado, where Trump was disqualified as a candidate due to the constitution’s sedition clause. 14th Amendment.

The process in Illinois began with the initiative of five voters who considered it Trump cannot be a candidate based on the sedition clauseA post-Civil War rule that barred those who participated in the rebellion after being sworn into the constitution could hold elected office.

Trump’s critics believe he has a role in this Attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 Fits the provisions of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and disqualifies him as a candidate for President.

This Amendment 14 More than a dozen states have spawned similar procedures to block Trump’s candidacy. So far, they have been successful only in Colorado and Maine, where the secretary of state decided to remove the former president pending a Supreme Court decision.

In Michigan, the state’s highest court refused to apply the sedition clause to Trump and ruled in favor of his remaining votes.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment reads as follows: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or an Elector (of the Electoral College) for President and Vice President, or does not hold any office, civil or militaryIn the United States or in any state, if, previously sworn as a member of Congress, or As an officer of the United Statesor as a member of the legislature of any State, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to uphold the Constitution of the United States, Rebellion or has participated in rebellion

against him, or gives aid or comfort to his enemies. But Congress, by a two-thirds vote of each House, may remove such obstruction.”

In Colorado, the first state to disqualify him, a district judge initially ruled that, even though Trump had participated in the insurgency, he could still be a candidate because of the specific wording of the rule that specified a specific office that an insurgent could not hold: that “senator,” “representative”, says “election”; But it doesn’t clearly talk about the president.

Additionally, Trump’s lawyers explained to the district judge by pointing out that in order for disqualification to apply, the 14th Amendment requires an oath to uphold the Constitution, while The oath of the President is to preserve and protect the Constitution.

On the other hand, Trump’s defenders argue that the amendment is official ( Officer) and the Constitution nowhere describes a President.

The state’s highest court, however, held that the rule applied to Trump and ruled that he be removed from the ballot. Those who defend this interpretation believe that the tenant of the White House is covered by the type of exclusion clause that refers to the “holding of any civil office”.

And, whether he is an officer adds that the Constitution speaks of “the office of the President” ( Office of the President) which in English means a Officer.