Former Illinois Judge Clark Erickson, acting as hearing officer on voters’ challenge to Trump’s eligibility, issues recommendation to the Illinois State Officers Electoral Board, which will vote on it on Tuesday.

Judge finds that the electoral board does not have the authority to decide the challenge on the merits, but recommends that, if the board does reach the merits, Trump is disqualified. 

CHICAGO- A former Illinois Republican judge has found that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and is disqualified under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment (the Insurrectionist Disqualifications Clause). In his recommendation to the Illinois State Officers Electoral Board, Judge Clark Erickson found that the Illinois statute governing the Electoral Board does not allow it to decide the merits, but further finds that if the Board does reach the merits, it should find that “the evidence presented at the hearing on January 26, 2024 proves by a preponderance of the evidence that President Trump engaged in insurrection, within the meaning of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and should have his name removed from the March, 2024 primary ballot in Illinois.” Judge Erickson held that while the evidence directs this determination, the ultimate decision should be made by a court, rather than the Electoral Board. 

Judge Erickson is the first Republican judge anywhere in the country to find that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and is disqualified from office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Electoral Board is scheduled to vote on the judge’s recommendation on Tuesday in the case, which a diverse group of Illinois voters initiated on January 4, 2024, challenging Trump’s eligibility to appear on the state’s presidential primary and general election ballot. 

“This decision by a Republican judge that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and is disqualified from office under the Constitution is highly significant,” said Ron Fein, Legal Director of Free Speech For People, which serves as co-lead counsel in the matter, along with Illinois co-counsel Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym and Illinois election lawyer Ed Mullen. “We expect that the Board and ultimately Illinois courts will uphold Judge Erickson’s thoughtful analysis of why Trump is disqualified from office, but–with the greatest respect–correct him on why Illinois law authorizes that ruling.”

The Illinois State Board of Elections will conduct a special Board Meeting on Tuesday, January 30, 2024. The meeting will begin at 9:30 am CT at the Board’s branch office in Conference Room A, 22nd Floor, at 69 W. Washington Street, Chicago, IL and in the Board’s principal office located at 2329 S. MacArthur Boulevard, Springfield, IL. The meeting can also be viewed via live stream on the agency YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@IllinoisSBE. 

To read Judge Erickson’s recommendation, click here.

For more information on this case and to access all of the key legal filings, click here.