Trump appeals Illinois ballot ban

Former President Trump has appealed an Illinois judge’s ruling to remove him from the state’s ballot over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.

Trump’s legal team filed the appeal on Wednesday night to the Appellate Court of Illinois, asking that Judge Tracie Porter’s ruling be overturned. Porter’s ruling, issued Wednesday, ordered the state election board to remove the former president from the state’s March 19 primary ballot.

Porter put her order on pause until Friday to allow Trump’s legal team to appeal the matter.

The appeal, filed Wednesday night, asks the appeals court to “reverse and vacate” Porter’s ruling and reaffirm the state’s Electoral Board decision.

In a separate request dated Wednesday, Trump’s legal team asks Porter to extend the pause beyond Friday until the Appellate Court hands down a final order.

Trump’s lawyers argued keeping Trump’s name on the ballot would “reduce the great risk of voter confusion and logistical difficulties for election officials” ahead of the state’s primary.

Porter, later on Thursday, sided with Trump’s legal team and said her ruling will be paused and he can remain on the ballot until the appeals court rules on the matter, according to the court order obtained by The Hill.

The ruling made Illinois the third state to attempt to kick Trump off the ballot, following Colorado and Maine’s rulings in recent months.

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently weighing Trump’s appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court decision, which ruled in December he is not eligible for the state’s ballot under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrectionist clause. The state’s high court ruled the former president participated in an insurrection through his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

A court in Maine ruled last month Trump can stay on the state’s ballot — following the state secretary of state’s decision to disqualify him — until the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its ruling.

Porter’s ruling was in response to challenge filed by national nonprofit Free Speech For People, which has numerous ballot challenges in numerous states, including Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Oregon.

Porter’s ruling overturned a decision from the Illinois State Board of Elections, which unanimously ruled last month Trump could remain on the state’s primary ballot. The board — made up of four Republicans and four Democrats — said last month it did not have the jurisdiction to weigh in on the matter.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung on Wednesday criticized Porter’s ruling, calling her an “activist Democrat judge.”

“The Soros-funded Democrat front-groups continue to attempt to interfere in the election and deny President Trump his rightful place on the ballot,” Cheung said in a statement to The Hill.  

“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. This is an unconstitutional ruling that we will quickly appeal.”

The Hill reached out to Free Speech For People for comment.

Updated: 4:27 p.m.