ALMOND NGAN / AFP
Donald Trump (here in February 2024) is excluded from the Republican primary in Illinois.
UNITED STATES – Never two without three. After being barred from voting in the Republican primaries in Colorado and Maine, Donald Trump was declared ineligible to vote by a judge in Illinois on Wednesday, February 28. It's about his actions in the storming of the Capitol, in which his supporters stormed the heart of American democracy. The name of the former President of the United States, who is leading the polls for his party's nomination, will therefore not appear on the ballot for the March 19 primaries.
This decision comes as the Supreme Court, the pinnacle of America's judiciary, must decide whether the actions of the 45th President of the United States during the events of January 6, 2021 render him ineligible. Aside from the fact that the chances of the court ruling against Trump with a large Republican majority are slim, the justices want to avoid giving in to suspicions of election interference at all costs.
Trump can still respond in court
As she awaits her decision, Tracie Porter, a Democratic judge from an Illinois district, believes it is necessary to remove the former president from the ballot during Illinois' Republican primary or ensure that the vote is removed “Votes cast in his favor will be deleted.” A decision that has not yet taken effect since only the courts have the power to apply it, giving Trump the opportunity to respond.
Tracie Porter invokes the 14th Amendment, which allows the disqualification from the highest public office of anyone who engages in acts of “rebellion” after taking an oath to defend the Constitution. The amendment, passed in 1868, was aimed at supporters of the Southern Confederacy, which was defeated during the Civil War (1861-1865).
After Tracie Porter's decision, Donald Trump's campaign spokesman Steven Cheung rushed to defend his candidate and said he would appeal the resolution. “Today, a Democratic judge … in Illinois summarily struck down the state election commission and contradicted previous rulings from dozens of other federal and state courts,” he said.
While appeals against Donald Trump for ineligibility have been filed in around thirty states, several of them are now waiting for the Supreme Court's final decision. And today you may join the list that consists of Colorado, Maine and therefore Illinois.
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