(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Cook County judge has kicked former President Donald Trump off the Illinois presidential primary ballot.
Circuit Judge Tracie Porter ruled Wednesday that the former president should be pulled from the GOP nominating ballot because of his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
However, Porter delayed her ruling from taking effect to allow Trump’s lawyers to appeal.
The ruling makes Illinois the third state in which a judge or elected official has found Trump ineligible to run under provisions of the 14th Amendment, known as the “insurrection clause.” The U.S. Supreme Court is considering one of those cases, from Colorado.
Porter issued her decision in Cook County after a group of Illinois voters sued to counter the state election board’s rejection of its efforts. The voters argued Trump is ineligible to hold office because he encouraged and did little to stop the Capitol riot.
In her 38-page ruling, Porter wrote the group’s petition should have been granted because they had met their burden and the election board's decision was “clearly erroneous.”
“This is a historic victory,” said Ron Fein, Legal Director of Free Speech For People, co-lead counsel in the case. “Every court or official that has addressed the merits of Trump’s constitutional eligibility has found that he engaged in insurrection after taking the oath of office and is therefore disqualified from the presidency.”
The Trump campaign criticized the decision.
“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,” a statement said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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