Which states want to keep him off
Estimated reading time: 3m 18s
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In December, Colorado became the first state to remove Donald Trump from its 2024 primary ballot. But the Centennial State isn’t the only place where Trump is facing challenges to his attempt to get reelected. In Maine, Hawaii and many other states, citizens and government officials alike are challenging his ballot access through the courts and state election boards. Their chances of success are in limbo right now, but collectively these cases may prove to be moot. Next week, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments over Colorado’s decision to remove Trump from the ballot, which will certainly have massive downstream effects as the election season gets underway. The core of the case isn’t just Trump’s ballot access, it’s the interpretation of the 14th Amendment. You may remember it from high school civics classes as one of a trio of amendments ratified during the Reconstruction Era. The 13th abolished slavery except as punishment for a crime, the 14th defined citizenship and due process rights, and the 15th expanded the right to vote. Each of these amendments is more complex than the end-of-chapter summaries we received in ninth grade, but most of us never have to think about their contents beyond said summaries. In the case of the 14th Amendment and Donald Trump, it’s not the definition of citizenship at issue, but the third clause of the amendment, which states that a person previously engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States is not allowed to hold office. This was written to prevent Confederate officials, like Alexander Stephens (Vice President of the Confederacy), from holding office after the South was readmitted to the Union. The Supreme Court has never ruled on a case involving that part of the amendment, so this is new territory in many ways. It may seem cut-and-dry: The events of January 6, 2021 have been widely referred to as an insurrection. But everything involving the law is subject to interpretation, and if this were simple, they wouldn’t be going to court over it. |
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(Image credit: Associated Press) |
Democratic lawmakers tried to use Clause 3 of the 14th Amendment in their impeachment proceedings against Trump in January 2021, but those proceedings fizzled out and the matter wasn’t pursued any further. You may be wondering why it took state-level officials almost three years to make any moves to bar Trump from the ballot. We don’t have time to break down the ins and outs of election law across these nifty fifty, but the short version is that it appears that most stateswere waiting for Trump to file the paperwork to officially appear on their ballots. For example, Colorado’s move to block Trump came around December 19, which is roughly one week after the state’s filing deadline to appear on the primary ballot. |
(Image credit: Getty Images) |
Colorado is the most prominent example of state-level efforts to keep Trump off the ballot, which is somewhat ironic given that their Republican primary isn’t until June. At that point in the year, the presumptive nominee for either major party is usually clear. But their efforts do matter in that Colorado was the first state to initiate such a challenge in December and other states have followed suit. Most states’ primaries happen in February and March, so time is of the essence for everyone. In the case of Colorado, it's possible that Trump could still get the state's Republican nomination by being a write-in candidate. Only nine states don't allow write-ins! |
Will Trump be on the ballot in Colorado? What about the other states that are challenging his validity as a candidate? We might have some answers in 9 days' time. |
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