The board is a bipartisan one made of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, who voted unanimously to dismiss the challenge.
The Illinois State Board of Elections voted to include former President Donald Trump on the state’s primary ballot following a recommendation from the board’s general counsel to dismiss the case.
The board is a bipartisan one made of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, who voted unanimously to dismiss the challenge.
Board member Jack Vrett said the axiom “hard cases make bad law” applied to this case.
“If we exceeded our authority … and looked at the underlying of conduct … I think what we would see would be an opening of floodgates of litigation,” he said. For example, every school board candidate could then challenge their rivals over alleged criminal conduct and require election boards to investigate.
“The relief that petitioners are seeking is one of ballot forfeiture” and they had not met that threshold, he added.
Board member Catherine McCrory was the only other member to make a statement, wanting to add to the record that she was a Republican but that “there’s no doubt in my mind” that President Trump engaged in “insurrection.” She said she did not think the board had the jurisdiction to rule on such an issue.
The decision can be appealed to state court, and general counsel Marni Malowitz provided several notes during the hearing meant to streamline the decision and prevent a lengthy process should the case be remanded to the board by the court, she said.
Ms. Malowitz had advised the board that even if it didn’t have authority to analyze constitutional issues, it had statutory authority to put the eligible candidates on the ballot. She said she was not convinced President Trump had filed false papers. She added that several issues needed determination before the matter of whether of Section 3 constituted insurrection, and recommended the board not touch on that issue.
She recommended that President Trump be certified for the ballot.
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