Illinois became the 18th state to see a 14th Amendment challenge to former President Donald Trump getting on the 2024 ballot. A group of Illinois voters filed paperwork to keep Trump off the ballot for the March 19 primary, claiming he isn’t eligible to hold office because his actions led to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in the U.S. Capitol. WBEZ’s Dave McKinney had the scoop. Illinois challengers are following a playbook used in Colorado, Maine and other states citing a clause in the 14th Amendment that says elected officials can be prevented from holding office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” The challenge came Thursday, just as Trump, President Joe Biden and other presidential campaigns turned in paperwork to get on the Illinois ballot for the March 19 primary. Today is the deadline to file. Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, has described efforts to keep Trump off the ballot as “bad-faith, politically motivated attempts to steal the 2024 election,” according to a New York Times report. What the Illinois challenge means: Trump’s campaign will have to defend itself in hearings with the State Board of Elections and, possibly, the Illinois Supreme Court. Trump’s case will follow procedures set for any campaign that faces objections, Elections Board spokesman Matt Dietrich told Playbook. Trump’s case will be assigned to a hearing officer at a special board meeting Jan. 17. There will be a follow-up hearing “and then a report and recommendation will be drafted and forwarded to our general counsel,” Dietrich said. A recommendation will be made to the full board at a Jan. 30 special meeting, and the board will vote on the objection. After any appeals, the case could go to the Illinois Supreme Court, which has a Democratic majority. Wildcard: The U.S. Supreme Court could step in, too, now that Trump has asked it to in the Colorado case, and take discretion away from states. Point being: This is a complicated process. Thursday’s scene at the Board of Elections on MacArthur Boulevard in Springfield saw Biden’s Illinois team carting in signatures. Pic! Also filing: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s campaigns. Ryan Binkley, a little-known Texas businessman also filed for the Republican ballot. Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota and self-help author Marianne Williamson, both Democrats, filed petitions for the presidential preference portion of the ballot but did not put in paperwork for any delegates, according to the Tribune. RELATED SPEECH ALERT: The president will speak today, the eve of the Jan. 6 anniversary about what happened that day and what it means for the country. He’ll speak from Valley Forge, a symbolic Revolutionary War site located in the 2024 battleground state of Pennsylvania. Biden is aiming for a George Washington v. Donald Trump contrast, writes POLITICO’s Jonathan Lemire NEW AD ALERT: Biden’s campaign is out with its first ad of the new year, which describes “MAGA extremism” as an “existential threat” to the country, according to a campaign press release. Watch it here
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