Friday, January 19, 2024

Playing the Democrats' Game - Lawsuits Filed in Illinois to Keep Biden Off the Ballot


We have learned over the years that Democrats love to play games with voting and election processes. For Republicans, the ideal would be that election day is a national holiday, everyone votes on election day, by paper balloting, all the ballots are counted openly on election day, and a winner is declared the same day. How hard could it be? Well, plenty hard, as Democrats attempt to have Donald Trump removed from several state primary ballots, citing "insurrection!" Now, the tables may be turning on the Democrats because, in at least one state, there is a challenge to Joe Biden being on the ballot. 


Terry Newsome is among several Illinois voters who have filed a lawsuit claiming that, under the 14th Amendment, President Joe Biden is unqualified to hold any public office, saying he has "given aid or comfort to the enemies" by throwing open the southern border and with the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. He added:

"He left $75 billion of military equipment and weaponry in Afghanistan for the Taliban, who is our enemy. My niece's husband is back in Iraq. What are they doing in Iraq? They're using some of the weapons Biden left behind. So our weapons are being used against our own men and women because of Joe Biden.”

In an interesting twist, the lawsuit does not necessarily cite the presidential oath of office that Biden took, but the oath he took as a Senator and Vice President nine times. The Senatorial Oath specifically states the individual taking the oath will "support and defend" the Constitution. Newsome acknowledged that there is a good chance, like the pending ballot cases against Trump, that the suit will be thrown out, but cited equal treatment under the law and stated: 


There is also another separate attempt to remove Biden from the ballot that involves the notarization of statements of candidacy. Beth Findley Smith is a LaSalle County District 4 Board member. She claims that because Biden's statement of candidacy was notarized by a notary accredited in the District of Columbia and not in Illinois, the statement is invalid. State law requires the statement of candidacy to be notarized by an accredited Illinois notary. Smith stated she just wanted to make sure state election laws were being complied with, but also, put very bluntly, what Republicans are going to have to do, saying, "We filed last Friday, which was the last day. It was a good strategy … so the other side couldn’t see what we were doing. It’s a game. You have to play by the rules but you have to play the game.”

Maine recently followed Colorado's lead by declaring Trump ineligible to appear on the state primary ballot, citing "insurrection." But Democrats may have started a risky game of tit for tat, as several red states have now made moves to remove Joe Biden from their primary ballots. Besides Illinois, officials in Texas, Missouri, Florida, and the crucial swing states of Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania have all floated the idea that Joe Biden is ineligible to hold office, and most of them cite the wide open southern border and the roughly eight million illegal immigrants who have come across it. 

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem nixed the idea, saying she did not believe she had the authority to remove Biden from the ballot. But it brings up the question of just how many election schemes Republicans are willing to put up with from Democrats. Republicans are slowly figuring out that they need to embrace things like early and absentee voting, mail-in voting, and legal ballot harvesting. As stated above, it might not be how the GOP wants to play the game, but until it can be changed, we have to be as good or better than Democrats at it. Trump himself said before the Iowa Caucus:

“I will secure our elections, and our goal will be one-day voting with paper ballots and voter ID. But until then, Republicans have to compete, and we have to win.”

As for the Illinois lawsuits, arguments both for and against will be held before the Board of Elections on January 30. Ballot certification is also expected that day. The Illinois primary is March 19.




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