Alexandria, Va. – A date has been set in a federal court in Virginia to hear the legal battle to remove former President Donald Trump from the Republican presidential primary.

The United States District Court in Alexandria will hear a motion on Jan. 5 to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two Virginian activists against the former president that sought to remove him from the ballot.

Judge Leonie Brinkema will preside over the case. Brinkema was appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 and was the second judge to halt Trump’s executive order that restricted immigration into the United States in 2017.

The court date comes after Roy Perry-Bey and Carlos Howard filed an injunction on Dec. 19 to remove Trump from the primary ballot in Virginia. The injunction, filed in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, is a continuation of the lawsuit launched by Perry-Bey and Howard in August. In their initial complaint, the duo argued that Trump should be barred from the ballot because he has been indicted on felony charges related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.

In their injunction, Perry-Bey and Howard argued that Trump should be disqualified from the race due to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and that the court should compel the Virginia Board of Elections to remove Trump from the ballot. They cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Disqualification from Holding Office clause, which “bars anyone who has sworn to uphold the constitution and later ‘engaged in insurrection’ from holding office again.”

The Virginia State Board of Elections and Department of Elections filed its opposition to the injunction Dec. 28. In it, the board argued that Perry-Bey and Howard’s injunction is meritless and cannot meet the burden for preliminary injunctive relief. The board asked that Perry-Bey and Howard’s motion should be denied and stricken.

The Republican Party of Virginia filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Nov. 21. A motion to strike, filed by Trump’s attorneys on Dec. 26, is pending.

Virginia’s primary ballot was finalized in mid-December with the former president’s name on it. Trump’s name could be struck from the primary ballot if a judge in Virginia decided that an insurrection conviction is not needed to do so.

Virginia is one of roughly a dozen states across the U.S. with similar cases pending. One Dec. 19, the Colorado State Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to remove Trump from the primary ballot. In Maine, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said the “insurrectionist ban” in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies to Trump and determined his name would be removed from the ballot. The state supreme court in Michigan rejected a bid to remove Trump from its ballot on Dec. 27, and on Dec. 29, California’s Secretary of State Shirley Weber determined the former president will remain on its ballot.

Trump’s federal 2020 election interference case trial is slated to begin on March 4, the day before Super Tuesday. Early voting for the presidential primary starts on Jan. 19 in Virginia.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Court in Alexandria to hear case aimed at removing Trump from ballot