Morgan County Clerk Jill Waggener says that the Republican primary ballot is the same for now.
A Cook County judge ruled last night that former President Donald Trump should be removed from the state’s primary ballot but that decision has been stayed until further clarification is given by the U.S. Supreme Court on a similar case in Colorado.
Waggener says they’ve been getting messages all day about the issue and things are the same at the moment: “I just want to reassure the public that at this time no changes will be made to the March 19th Primary ballot, and that Donald Trump is still a candidate. I will follow up with everyone to let them know when a judiciary ruling as it relates to the election has been made.”
Waggener says there is already a procedure in place if former President Trump is removed via a Supreme Court ruling later on: “As in other elections when a candidate has been on the ballot and then has either been removed or dropped out on by themselves but it’s too late and they’ve passed the point to be removed from the ballot, their name stays on that ballot and if they do get votes, they are not counted [toward a win of the election]. They are tabulated but, of course, it won’t make any difference towards the outcome because they are no longer considered a viable candidate.”
CBS News reports that Trump’s attorneys in Illinois have issued an appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court to overturn Cook County Judge Tracie Porter’s ruling from last night to strike Trump from the ballot.
The Colorado case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court was heard on February 8th. The Supreme Court has not yet issued a ruling.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Trump delegates on the March 19 ballot have been certified and would still be free to vote for Trump at the Republican National Convention no matter how the court battle here plays out.