USA Today reports that a Chicago judge has agreed to hear arguments on Ted Cruz's presidential eligibility, based on the "Natural Born Citizen" clause. The case was brought by attorney Lawrence Joyce, a Republican who says that he supports Ben Carson.
As I have said previously, I have no strong opinion one way or the other about Cruz's eligibility, which has been both supported and questioned by highly respected scholars. I do have some thoughts on the following comments of Sanford Levinson, as reported in USA Today.
Sanford Levinson, constitutional law professor at the University of Texas School of Law, said Joyce would have to prove standing — or why Cruz's potential ineligibility affects him specifically — for the judge to proceed with the case.
It's surprising that a lower court would even agree to hear the case, which is entangled in broader constitutional issues [Levinson] said.
I am not an election law specialist, but I think that Levinson is wrong in both regards.
Illinois ballot access is a matter of Illinois law, not federal law. And under Illinois law, any citizen has standing to file an "objection" to a candidates nomination papers. That appears to be precisely what Joyce did, by filing an objection with the appropriate Board of Elections, per Illinois law. The Board of Elections rejected the objection.
After that, it is not at all surprising that a lower court would proceed to hear the case, because judicial review in the Circuit Court (that is, the trial court) is also authorized by Illinois law. This seems to me to be just what the Constitution calls for in Article II, which provides that "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors." In Illinois, the legislature has directed certain requirements for ballot access, and has given every citizen standing to seek enforcement, first before the Board of Elections and then in the state courts.
Again, I am not an election law specialist, state or federal, so I am more than willing to be corrected on this or any other aspect(s) of the lawsuit(s). But at least as an initial matter, it does seem that eligibility to appear on a state primary ballot would be governed by state law.