The trial over an effort in Minnesota to keep former President Donald Trump off of the 2024 ballot began Thursday at the state Supreme Court as a similar case continued in Colorado.
The lawsuits in both states allege Trump should be barred from the 2024 ballot for his conduct leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. They argue Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which says no one who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after swearing an oath to support and defend the Constitution can hold office.
A group of Minnesota voters, represented by the election reform group Free Speech for People, sued in September to remove Trump from the state ballot under the 14th Amendment provision. The petitioners include former Minnesota Secretary of State Joan Growe and former state Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson.
I think it’s important to point out that this disqualification under section 3 of the 14th amendment does not require conviction of a crime. Anyone who has previously taken oath as a member of the US government can be disqualified from holding office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” There is enough of an argument that just providing comfort to insurrectionists is enough to disqualify.
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/section-3/
I’d like to think so, but it really is up to the court to interpret that language.
This will go to the corrupt supreme court, which will determine that this part of the constitution doesn’t count
Technically Minnesota doesn’t have to allow anyone on its ballots, if they have legal justification to prevent them. And there is precedent for this. Alabama kept Harry Truman off their ballot in 1948, even though he was the incumbent president.
If Trump is convicted in Georgia he would run afoul of Minnesota fair campaign section of the state constitution (211B), or hell, I think he has already been fined for infractions that qualify as legal justification to remove him from the ballot in MN based on both campaign finance laws and the fair campaigns section of the MN state constitution.
As the GOP has been doing for the last decade, they have been eroding the federal ability to monitor and manage states’ elections (reducing the voting rights act, etc) current precedent is that the state has the right to handle matters with regard to elections with near impunity.
And with each corrupt ruling, the legitimacy of the federal legal system weakens. Recently polls show faith in SCOTUS (by the public) at 15%
The Weird Sisters have flown in from Scotland to watch.
Or, even better, that this part of the constitution doesn’t count for this specific person, in this specific case, at this specific time.
But that it counts for anyone else, at any other time.
Okay say they’re successful I have a question about write ins, will they count that towards his total? Or is he completely removed from running and being voted for in that state?
In general this would depend on the state… In Minnesota the canvass following the general ballot is used to determine who the states electors are going to be. These individuals represent their districts and are then legally obligated to only vote for candidates that meet eligibility and are on the ballot. So there would need to be a certain threshold of write ins met before he could actually make it to the electors ballots and he would have to submit a proper write in registration form ahead of time… Because those electors are casting votes in representation for their districts they would not be authorized to write in a candidate of their own choosing as they would basically be going completely against their electoral districts clearly defined intentions.
So it’s possible he could even win a fair share of the popular vote but be unable to be even selected as a candidate by the electors as they are legally unable to vote for him unless he is a properly displayed candidate on their ballots.
Super unlikely, but it would depend on how the state’s Supreme Court would decide to uphold its write in registration process following the decision… And also it would probably be petitioned to higher courts who would likely overturn it since it’s extremely dangerous precedent.
How many states’ ballot papers can he afford to lose before he is no longer a viable candidate for the GOP?
I’m don’t quite understand how US politics works. Can the Republicans actually kick him out of the party and prevent him from representing them?
Because my understanding is that he is polling better than all of the other candidates so if they don’t want him in power would they have to remove him from the party and then make him run as an independent or something.
Well, that’s what the primaries are for: The members of the party select one candidate that they all promise to support. Well, theoretically, at least. Trump has not signed that pledge that he would support any other candidate if he loses the primaries.
Can the Republicans actually kick him out of the party and prevent him from representing them?
Yes, easily. Democrats actually went to court to establish legally that the nomination process is a process internal to a private organization and therefore not subject to election regulations. The real question is, can they survive kicking him out of the party? There are a lot of people who would absolutely follow Trump out the door if the Reps kicked him out, and they’d end up losing not just the presidency but probably tons of power up and down the ballot.
The real problem. Republicans thought courting the moderate vote could keep them relevant, and then 2016 happened. After that, they realized the only way they stay relevant is if they can get a large number of angry, uneducated, single-issue voters.
Now they’re beholden to them. We got to watch as they slowly enacted their little congressional coup in the House.
But don’t feel bad for them. Republicans are all-in. All that had to happen was under 10 Republicans break ranks and vote for a Conservative Democrat for House Speaker and the Congressional Soap Opera would have ended. They prefer the extremist to anyone with a “D” next to their name.
Tell me, what evidence there is that he was responsible for that, other than supposed “dogwhistles”?
I can think of about 11,780 things he did
Well go on then…
gestures broadly
