Trump's Removal from the Ballot

The 2024 election is coming up at the end of the year, and tensions are running high as states begin to hold their primary elections. With allegations against former President Donald Trump, such as the classified documents case, business fraud case, and not one but two election interference cases, there has been a lot of talk about one question: should Trump be allowed to run for president? Many states have considered this question, including two that have disqualified him: Colorado and Maine.

Let’s start with Colorado. According to Colorado’s Supreme Court, Trump was ineligible to run because he violated a part of the Fourteenth Amendment with his participation in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The amendment states, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.“ The U.S. Supreme Court heard this case on February 8th, and Trump will appear on the state’s primary ballot on March 5th.

Then, there’s Maine. Trump had been disqualified similarly because of the storming of the capitol. Maine, however, must await the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Colorado’s case before it can make a final decision. In an interview with NPR, Shenna Bellows, the Maine Secretary of State, said, “So I reviewed very carefully the hearing proceedings and the weight of the evidence presented to me at the hearing. And that evidence made clear, first, that those events of January 6, 2021 - and we all witnessed them - were unprecedented. They were tragic. But they were an attack not only upon the Capitol and government officials, but also an attack on the rule of law, on the peaceful transfer of power. And the evidence presented at the hearing demonstrated that they occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing president. And the United States Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government. And under Maine election law, I was required to act in response.” In other words, the attack on the Capitol physically attacked people in the government but had a symbolic attack on the people and offended the law.

You may be asking the question, “What’s happening here in Washington?” On January 18th, a challenge was declined by a court in Thurston County. A group of voters tried to remove Trump from our primary ballot, but Judge Mary Sue Wilson rejected that argument. 

In conclusion, we don’t yet know if Donald Trump will be on the ballot, but there is a chance he will not.