Efforts to Disqualify Trump Under the 14th Amendment for 2024 Ballot Gain Traction

Efforts to Disqualify Trump Under the 14th Amendment for 2024 Ballot Gain Traction

Edited by: TJVNews.com

As the 2024 presidential election draws near, efforts to keep former President Donald Trump off the ballot are gaining momentum, as was reported by ABC News. Election officials in crucial states are preparing for or responding to legal challenges aimed at disqualifying Trump’s candidacy based on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ABC News report said that this contentious issue revolves around Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which stipulates that an elected official cannot assume public office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States or provided “aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,” unless granted amnesty by a two-thirds vote of Congress.

Advocacy groups argue that Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, meet the criteria outlined in Section 3, asserting that he directly engaged in an insurrection, according to the ABC News report. While similar legal theories have been pursued against a few elected Republicans with ties to the events of January 6, these efforts have thus far been unsuccessful.

Trump has vehemently denied any involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and his campaign spokesperson, Steven Chung, dismissed the disqualification efforts as an “absurd conspiracy theory” and a “political attack” without legal basis, as was noted in the ABC News report.

“Joe Biden, Democrats, and Never Trumpers are scared to death because they see polls showing President Trump winning in the general election,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Chung told ABC News in a statement. “The people who are pursuing this absurd conspiracy theory and political attack on President Trump are stretching the law beyond recognition much like the political prosecutors in New York, Georgia, and DC. There is no legal basis for this effort … ”

The push to disqualify Trump gained significant traction when two members of the conservative Federalist Society, William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen, publicly supported the idea. The ABC News report also said that retired conservative federal appeals judge J. Michael Luttig and Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe subsequently made similar arguments, lending further credence to the notion.

Now, threats of lawsuits aiming to disqualify Trump under this constitutional clause are gaining steam in several states, including New Hampshire, Arizona, and Michigan, according to the ABC News report. Secretaries of state in these states are taking steps to prepare for the possibility of administering elections without Trump as a candidate.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, revealed that conversations among secretaries of state from multiple states began over a year ago to address the legal challenges to Trump’s candidacy. ABC News reported that these discussions acknowledge the complexity of the issue, which may involve multiple resolution points and legal evolutions throughout the election cycle.

“I’m talking every day with colleagues about this, we’re all recognizing that our decisions that we make may in some cases be the first but won’t be the last and there may be multiple decision points throughout the course of the election cycle,” Benson said, according to the ABC News report. “So, I think the public needs to be prepared for this to be an ongoing issue that is it has several resolution points and evolutions points throughout the cycle.”

Despite the growing momentum behind these efforts, concerns about the practicality of emerging lawsuits are also on the rise. As was mentioned in the ABC News report, legal scholars and election officials are grappling with procedural challenges, including issues related to standing and the lack of clarity on who has the authority to bring forth such challenges.

In New Hampshire, Bryant “Corky” Messner, a lawyer endorsed by Trump during his 2020 Senate run, initiated steps to challenge Trump’s eligibility for the state’s primary ballot, the ABC News report said. New Hampshire’s Secretary of State Office confirmed that Messner met with Secretary of State David Scanlan to discuss Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. However, the office clarified that it had not taken any actions to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot.

Similarly, Michigan saw its first lawsuit filed by citizen activist Robert Davis, urging Secretary of State Benson to declare Trump ineligible to run for office, the ABC News report noted. Davis requested a decision within 14 days, emphasizing the importance of adhering to the law both substantively and procedurally.

In Arizona, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, is preparing for potential challenges to Trump’s eligibility. The ABC News report said that he acknowledged that only Congress can enforce the disqualification clause, as determined by the Arizona Supreme Court. Fontes is consulting with legal counsel to navigate this complex issue and anticipates potential lawsuits.

Fontes expressed concerns about the toll these challenges and potential countersuits might take on the voting process and election workers, particularly in a state like Arizona that has experienced contentious challenges surrounding election results in recent years, according to the ABC News report.

Despite differing opinions on the issue, some anticipate that it may eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court for adjudication. The ABC News report suggested that the outcome could determine whether Trump appears on primary ballots in certain states, setting a precedent that influences subsequent state primaries.

Ohio, another state where threats of challenges have circulated, has not taken proactive measures to prepare for potential lawsuits challenging Trump’s eligibility. Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office stated that they are “not aware of any litigation in Ohio” related to what they described as a “fringe legal theory,” as was indicated in the ABC News report. They do not anticipate denying ballot access to any candidate complying with Ohio law.

The efforts to disqualify Donald Trump under the 14th Amendment for the 2024 ballot are gaining momentum, but the legal and procedural challenges surrounding this issue remain complex and divisive. As the 2024 election cycle unfolds, the outcome of these legal battles may have far-reaching implications for the electoral process and the political landscape. The issue could eventually find its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, shaping the rules governing presidential candidates’ eligibility in various states.