Jan. 30 (UPI) — Illinois’ state board of elections voted unanimously Tuesday to reject a petition to block former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot, joining Massachusetts as the latest states to do so.
A three-person panel from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected a petition Monday that sought a decision on Trump’s eligibility. Illinois‘ eight-person board followed suit on Tuesday, dismissing a challenge to the former president’s eligibility.
The petition in Illinois was filed by a group of five voters and the organization Free Speech For People on Jan. 5.
The organization Free Speech For People and Massachusetts law firm Lichten and Liss-Riordan filed also filed an appeal last week, arguing that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution bars Trump from holding office.
Maine, Michigan and Minnesota courts have also rejected attempts to remove Trump from the ballot. Trump is campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.
The Illinois board of elections ruled that it does not have the authority to make a decision on Trump’s eligibility.
Justice Frank M. Gaziano’s opinion in the Massachusetts case stated that the issue of Trump’s eligibility is not “ripe” because he has not yet been officially declared the Republican nominee. He added that the provision of the Constitution does not apply to Trump’s position on the primary ballot, because he did not get on the ballot through the submission of nomination papers or any certificate of nomination.
“The petitioners’ objections have, in essence, come too soon,” Gaziano ruled. “If there is any question whether the commission has the authority or jurisdiction to consider the petitioners’ objections regarding Trump’s eligibility to appear on the general election ballot, that question will not become ripe until, and if, he is selected as his party’s nominee for president.”
Gaziano also noted that Trump’s eligibility under the Fourteenth Amendment will soon be before the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court agreed to take up the decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to bar Trump from the primary ballot earlier this month.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung applauded the decision by the Massachusetts court in a campaign email on Monday, calling it another “crushing defeat” for “left-wing activist groups.”
The Fourteenth Amendment challenge in Colorado was brought forward by a group of Republican voters and nonpartisan watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Republican voters have also been petitioners for challenges in other states.
