Illinois voters assert Biden ‘ineligible’ to run for office, move to strike him from ballot

The candidacy of President Joe Biden is being challenged in Illinois, joining a mix of presidential candidates that some voters are trying to remove from the primary ballot.

The deadline to file objections with the Illinois State Board of Elections was on Friday when Biden and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley received objections. Former President Donald Trump’s candidacy was also challenged earlier this month.

A total of three objections were filed last week against Biden, the Democratic frontrunner. Among them, Shane Bouvet, Timothy Conrad, former U.S. Senate candidate Peggy Hubbard, and Terry Newsome maintain Biden is ineligible to hold public office for supporting foreign enemies.

“Our objection is to reinforce that We The People will not tolerate betrayal,” said Bouvet, a Stonington resident.

This objection to Biden and the mounting nationwide challenges to Trump center around Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution but on different provisions of the law. The amendment, a post-Civil War remnant, has never been applied to keep presidential candidates off the ballot until this year.

More: Does the objection to Trump on the Illinois primary ballot have a chance? What we know

In Trump’s Illinois case, objectors say the Republican inspired the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021 and should be barred from running in 2024. He has been removed from the ballot in Colorado and Maine on those same grounds but received favorable rulings in California, Michigan, Minnesota, and Oregon. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in an appeal of the Colorado decision on Feb. 8.

Objectors in Biden’s case assert he has “given aid or comfort to the enemies” during his time as a U.S. senator, vice president, and president. In their 177-page filing shared with The State Journal-Register, the objectors define China, Iran, Sinaloa Cartel and MS-13 as foreign enemies and detail in-part how Biden has assisted them.

“Biden has given aid and comfort to enemies of the Constitution and the United States by, among other things, failing to enforce the laws of the United States, allowing entry of enemy agents illegally into the country including tens of thousands of military age men, and abandoning assets of the United States to the possession of our enemies,” the objectors wrote in their filing.

The major difference in these cases, Conrad of Will County said, comes down to the oaths that Biden took as a senator and vice president compared to the one Trump took as president. The presidential oath of office requires the president to “preserve, protect, and defend” the Constitution, whereas other federal officials take an oath to “support” the Constitution.

The matter is now going before ISBOE’s General Counsel, a bipartisan, eight-member electoral board, who has heard several challenges to presidential candidates in recent years.

Biden now joins former Democratic presidential candidates Michael Bloomberg, Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama in receiving objections. Obama faced three challenges to his candidacy based on false allegations about his citizenship in 2012.

Last week, the election panel ruled to keep Village of Chatham Trustee Kristen Chiaro on the ballot in the Democratic primary for Illinois House District 95 but removed state Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dietrich.

ISBOE will be assigning hearing officers in the objections to Biden, Haley and Trump during a Wednesday meeting before making decisions on Jan. 30.

Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.