Group seeks to keep Trump off 2024 Illinois, Massachusetts ballots

Voters in Illinois and Massachusetts filed motions to have former President Donald Trump removed from their 2024 primary ballots, according to The Associated Press.

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The groups are challenging his candidacy over what has come to be called the “insurrectionist ban” contained in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The 14th Amendment says officials who take an oath to support the Constitution are banned from holding office if they “engaged in insurrection.” The provision, which is contained in the amendment that was ratified following the Civil War, was used to disqualify thousands of ex-Confederates from taking office.

In Illinois, Free Speech For People asked that the Illinois Board of Elections hold a hearing on the matter and bar Trump from appearing on not only the primary ballot but the general election ballot as well. The motions were filed Jan. 4.

“Donald J. Trump, through his words and actions, after swearing an oath as an officer of the United States to support the Constitution, engaged in insurrection or rebellion, or gave aid and comfort to its enemies, as defined by Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the voters wrote in their petition.

According to Free Speech for People’s petition, Trump “has never expressed regret that his supporters violently attacked the U.S. Capitol” and that “Trump has not apologized to anyone, either on his own behalf or on behalf of his supporters, for the January 6 attack.”

According to CNN, the same advocacy group filed a challenge to Trump’s eligibility to appear on Massachusetts ballots for both the primary and general presidential elections in the state.

The challengers on the Massachusetts petition include former Boston Mayor Kim Janey, a Democrat, as well as “a mix of Republican, Independent, and Democratic voters,” the group says.

Illinois and Massachusetts join several other states hoping to keep Trump off the primary ballots.

The US Supreme Court is expected to review a state court ruling in Colorado that found that Trump is ineligible to run for office under Section 3. Whatever the court decides in the Colorado case, should they decide to hear it, would apply to all 50 states.

The former president has also asked that a decision in Maine that would keep him from that state’s primary ballot be reviewed by Maine’s Superior Court.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows became the first secretary of state in history to bar someone from running for the presidency under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

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