A pair of objections filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections seek to remove President Joe Biden from the state’s Democratic presidential primary ballot.
The petitions, both filed on Jan. 12, hold that the president is legally ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot under state and federal law.
“Biden’s Statement of Candidacy was notarized by David E. Kalbaugh, a Notary Public commissioned in the District of Columbia,” petitioners Beth Findley Smith and Timothy Conrad, both Illinois voters, wrote.
Noting this, Ms. Findley Smith—who’s also LaSalle County’s District 4 board member—and Mr. Conrad contend that the notarization of the president’s statement was “invalid.”
Commonly referred to as the Constitution’s “insurrection” clause, the law has recently been cited in efforts to remove former President Donald Trump from a number of states’ Republican primary ballots.
The clause bars those who previously took an oath to support the Constitution “as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State” from holding any state or federal office, “civil or military,” after having taken certain actions against the United States.
Challengers of President Trump have focused on the law’s disqualification of those who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States. But the law also disqualifies those who have “given aid or comfort” to the nation’s enemies—a category that President Biden falls into, according to petitioners.
“Overtly beginning January 20, 2021, Joseph Biden has intentionally declined to enforce laws of the United States, in particular relation to the security of our country’s border,” they wrote.
Citing policy moves such as halting construction on the border wall, expanding parole programs, and implementing a “catch-and-release” enforcement approach, the petitioners charged that the Biden administration had provided “aid or comfort” to the United States’ enemies while undermining border security.
Historically, the 14th Amendment has never been invoked to prevent a candidate from assuming the presidential office.
President Trump’s legal team has argued that the law doesn’t apply to him as the presidential oath of office to “preserve, protect, and defend” the Constitution is different from the oath taken by other federal officials to “support” the Constitution, which is the wording used in the clause.
President Biden’s challengers made that same argument, holding that the law applies only to the 46th president because, as a former senator and vice president, he swore an oath to support the Constitution several times.
Both petitions requested hearings to lay out their arguments for President Biden’s exclusion from the primary ballot.
The Illinois deadline to file objections to presidential candidates’ nomination papers was Jan. 12. The State Elections Board will convene on Jan. 17 to hear those objections.
