Anderson v. Trump

2025 IL App (1st) 240437-U
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided August 11, 2025·No. 1-24-0437·Unpublished

Opinion

2025 IL App (1st) 240437-U No. 1-24-0437

FIRST DIVISION

August 11, 2025

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT

STEVEN DANIEL ANDERSON, CHARLES J. ) Appeal from the Circuit Court of HOLLEY, JACK L. HICKMAN, RALPH E. ) Cook County. CINTRON, and DARRYL P. BAKER, )

)

)

Petitioners-Appellees, ) No. 2024 COEL 000013 )

v. )

)

DONALD J. TRUMP, ) The Honorable ) Tracie R. Porter,

Respondent-Appellant, ) Judge Presiding.

)

and )

)

The ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF ) ELECTIONS, sitting as the State Officers ) Electoral Board, and its members CASSANDRA ) B. WATSON, LAURA K. DONAHUE, ) JENNIFER M. BALLARD CROFT, CRISTINA ) D. CRAY, TONYA L. GENOVESE, ) CATHERINE S. MCCRORY, RICK S. TERVIN, ) SR and JACK VRETT, )

)

Respondents. )

JUSTICE PUCINSKI delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Lavin and Cobbs concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

Held: The United States Supreme Court has held that states lack authority to decide whether a candidate is disqualified pursuant to section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Thus, the Election Board decision addressing the merits of the petitioners-appellees’ objection to respondent-

appellant’s candidacy is void and must be vacated, along with the subsequent circuit court order. In any event, the appeal is moot and the public interest exception does not apply.

¶1 Petitioners-appellees filed an objection to the candidacy of respondent-appellant Donald J. Trump in the March 2024 presidential primary election, alleging he was disqualified by section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Section 3). U.S. Const. amend XIV, § 3. After the Illinois State Board of Elections (Board) overruled the objection, the petitioners sought judicial review in the circuit court, which reversed the Board and found that Trump was disqualified from appearing on Illinois ballots. Trump appealed the circuit court’s decision. Shortly thereafter, the United States Supreme Court held that states lack authority to decide Section 3 objections to candidates seeking federal office. Trump v. Anderson, 601 U.S. 100 (2024).

¶2 For the following reasons, we find that the Board lacked jurisdiction to decide the Section 3 objection, and thus we vacate the Board’s decision and the circuit court’s decision. We also remand to the circuit court with directions to (1) dismiss the petitioners’ petition for judicial review and (2) direct the Board to dismiss the petitioners’ objection.

¶3 BACKGROUND

¶4 In January 2024, Trump filed nomination papers with the Board to appear on Illinois ballots in the March 2024 primary election as a candidate for President of the United States. Pursuant to section 7-10 of the Illinois Election Code, he included a candidate statement certifying that he was “legally qualified” to hold that office. 10 ILCS 5/7-10 (West 2024).

¶5 Shortly thereafter, the petitioners-appellees herein filed an objection to Trump’s candidacy with the Board. In the objection, the petitioners averred that Trump was disqualified to run for president of the United States by Section 3, which provides:

“No person shall *** hold any office, civil or military, under the United States *** who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, *** to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” U.S. Const. amend XIV, § 3.

¶6 According to the objection, Trump was disqualified under Section 3 due to his role in efforts to “overthrow the results of the 2020 [presidential] election”, including the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, which petitioners characterized as an “insurrection.” The objection noted that a decision by Colorado’s supreme court had sustained similar findings upon a Section 3 challenge to Trump’s candidacy in that state. See Anderson v. Griswold, 2023 CO 63 (Colo. Dec. 19, 2023) (rev’d by Trump v. Anderson, 601 U.S. 100 (2024)).

¶7 The petitioners claimed that under Illinois law, Trump’s “nomination papers are not valid because when he swore in his Statement of Candidacy that he is ‘qualified’ for the office of the presidency as required by 10 ILCS 5/7-10, he did so falsely.” See 10 ILCS 5/7-10 (West 2024) (requiring nomination papers to be accompanied by a candidate’s statement that the candidate is “qualified for the office specified”). Section 7-10 provides an example “Statement of Candidacy” form, including the statement that “I am legally qualified *** to hold such office.” Id.

¶8 Trump moved to dismiss the objection, and petitioners filed a motion for summary judgment. The Board assigned a hearing officer (retired Judge Clark Erickson) to assess the

motions. Following briefing and a hearing, Judge Erickson issued a report in which he recommended that the Board grant Trump’s motion to dismiss because Illinois Supreme Court precedent “prohibit[s] the Election Board from addressing issues involving constitutional analysis.” Alternatively, Judge Erickson recommended that if the Board did not grant Trump’s motion to dismiss, it should find that Trump had engaged in an “insurrection” and should be removed from the primary ballot pursuant to Section 3.

¶9 The Board’s general counsel issued a recommendation in which it concurred with Judge Erickson’s recommendation to overrule the petitioners’ objection to Trump’s candidacy. Notably, the general counsel suggested that the Board resolve the objection “under Illinois law without reaching the constitutional question under Section 3” by finding that Trump’s statement of candidacy “is not knowingly false and therefore does not violate Section 7-10” of the Election Code. Thus, the Board’s general counsel reasoned that regardless of whether Trump was disqualified under Section 3, “his sworn statement on his Statement of Candidacy that he is ‘legally qualified’ for office is not knowingly false, and therefore, does not violate Section 7-10 and cannot invalidate his nomination papers.”

¶ 10 The Board Grants Trump’s Motion to Dismiss Petitioners’ Objection

¶ 11 On January 30, 2024, the Board issued a decision in which it “adopt[ed] the conclusion of law and recommendations of the General Counsel” and determined that petitioners had not met their burden to prove that Trump’s statement of candidacy was “falsely sworn in violation of Section 7-10 of the Election Code.” In the alternative, the Board found that, pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court precedent, “the Board lacks jurisdiction to perform the constitutional analysis necessary” to determine whether Section 3 barred Trump from appearing on the ballot. On these

grounds, the Board found that Trump’s nomination papers were valid and granted Trump’s motion to dismiss the objection.

¶ 12 On Judicial Review, the Circuit Court Finds Trump Disqualified Under Section 3

¶ 13 Petitioners sought judicial review of the Board’s decision in the circuit court of Cook County pursuant to section 10-10.1 of the Election Code. 10 ILCS 5/10-10.1(a) (West 2024) (“a candidate or objector aggrieved by the decision of an electoral board may secure judicial review of such decision in the circuit court of the county in which the hearing of the elector board was held.”)

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