A voter protests Trump's inclusion on the Illinois ballot.

On Thursday, a petition filed by five voters aims to prevent former President Donald Trump from appearing on the Illinois Republican primary election ballot in March. The petition argues that Trump is ineligible to hold office due to his alleged role in encouraging and inadequately addressing the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Similar to petitions in over a dozen other states, this legal challenge relies on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment prohibits individuals from holding office if they have previously taken an oath to defend the Constitution and later "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the country or provided "aid or comfort" to its enemies.

The 87-page document, endorsed by five individuals from different parts of the state, builds a case asserting that Trump, having lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, played a role in inciting his fervent supporters who participated in the Capitol attack on the day Congress certified the election results. The violent incident resulted in five fatalities and over 100 injuries.

While Colorado and Maine have already excluded Trump's name from their primary election ballots, Trump has sought intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court ruling from December, which removed his name from the state's ballot.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Illinois State Board of Elections had not scheduled a hearing for the petition, according to spokesperson Matt Dietrich. The board is slated to address 32 other objections to the proposed ballot during its meeting on January 11.