An Illinois judge has ordered the removal of former President Donald Trump from state election ballots this November.
The ruling cited Trump's involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, which critics have referred to as an "insurrection."
The Illinois State Board of Elections “shall remove Donald J. Trump from the ballot for the General Primary Election on March 19, 2024, or cause any votes cast for him to be suppressed," Judge Tracie R. Porter of the State Circuit Court in Cook County ruled on Wednesday evening.
The order has been stayed, and Trump must submit for appeal by Friday.
“The Soros-funded Democrat front-groups continue to attempt to interfere in the election and deny President Trump his rightful place on the ballot,” wrote Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung in a statement following Judge Porter's ruling.
“Today, an activist Democrat judge in Illinois summarily overruled the state’s board of elections and contradicted earlier decisions from dozens of other state and federal jurisdictions," the statement continued. "This is an unconstitutional ruling that we will quickly appeal."
"In the meantime, President Trump remains on the Illinois ballot, is dominating the polls, and will Make America Great Again!” the statement concluded.
Two other states, including Maine and Colorado, have attempted to remove Trump from state election ballots. Both cases have been paused as the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is slated to rule on the matter.
Earlier this month, SCOTUS heard oral arguments from Colorado's 14th Amendment challenge and appeared to signal they may rule in favor of Trump's legality to remain on state election ballots.
Newly appointed Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson, a liberal justice, noted the 14th Amendment highlighted "local elections" in its language rather than the presidency. Colorado's attorney acknowledged Jackson's questioning, though argued there was a lack of historical ballot access which, in turn, marked Trump's legality to appear on the ballot uncharted territory.
"The thing that really is troubling to me is I totally understand your argument, but they were listing people that were barred, and 'president' is not there," Jackson said. "That just makes me worry that maybe they weren't focusing on the president."
Jackson also noted "electors" for president and vice president appeared in Section 3 and therefore barred "insurrectionist electors."
Fellow liberal Justice Elena Kagan similarly questioned the legitimacy of Colorado's challenge, asking "why a single state should decide who gets to be President of the United States."
"It sounds awfully national to me," Kagan said of Colorado's argument, adding the means to enforce Colorado's argument would be federal. "Why should a single state have the ability to make this determination, not only for their own citizens, but for the rest of the nation?"
