Efforts by Activists to Halt Trump’s Appearance on 2024 Ballot Face Obstacles

A push by activists to block former President Donald Trump from being on the 2024 ballot in several states has reportedly been a bust because officials are reluctant to act without any court guidance.

“We’re not the eligibility police,” Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, told Axios. “We are responsible for ensuring that basic facts are met to get someone on the ballot.”

According to Axios, groups in at least eight states have urged elections officials to disqualify Trump, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment that bans anyone who’s taken part in a rebellion against the government from holding a state or federal office.

Secretaries of state have resisted acting unilaterally to ban Trump because they want to first see a court ruling on whether Trump’s actions ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, are disqualifying, the outlet reported.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a lawsuit in Colorado aiming to ban Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot — and the group Free Speech For People has brought forth a suit in Minnesota, Axios reported.

But in August, a federal judge in Florida dismissed a similar lawsuit filed, saying the three people who filed it lacked legal standing, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Free Speech For People also has sent letters to elections officials in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and New Mexico asking them to exclude Trump from state ballots, Axios noted.

But many secretaries of state who oversee elections are reluctant to take on the politically divisive issue for fear of appearing partisan, Axios reported.

“If we become political actors instead of election administrators, then we risk being a part of, even innocently a part of, the deterioration of democracy in our country,” Benson told the outlet.

Benson said it’s not her office’s duty to interpret the law “in a way that could impact one’s ability to run for office.”

New Hampshire’s Republican secretary of state, David Scanlan, noted at a news conference a decision by an elections official without a court ruling first could trigger “chaos, confusion, anger and frustration,” WMUR reported.

Mark Graber, a University of Maryland law professor, told Axios “historically, courts often duck tough political questions” and noted courts could say “it’s too soon, this decision ought to be made by Congress, there are lots of moves courts could make.”

He also predicted if courts do take up even some of the legal challenges, rulings in those cases could be expedited.

A judge overseeing the Colorado case said she plans to decide by Thanksgiving whether the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump from the state’s ballot, Axios reported.

“I would suspect by the time the parties have their big convention(s), it will be known whether Trump is disqualified or not,” Graber told Axios.