A Michigan judge has denied an effort to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot.
The judge stated that the Secretary of State lacks the authority to intervene in a primary election if the party lists a candidate who is ineligible for the position, in accordance with Michigan law.
“The ultimate decision is made by the respective political party, with the consent of the listed candidate,” the judge wrote.
The ruling follows a legal challenge to Trump’s candidacy that was filed in September by a group of Michigan voters. The challengers contended that his conduct and endeavors to challenge the 2020 election results, as well as those associated with the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, thereby rendering him ineligible for public office.
The lawsuit’s central claim for Trump’s disqualification from office—that he “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” subsequent to taking an oath to support and defend the Constitution—was not explicitly addressed or emphasized in the Michigan Court of Claims’ decision.
The petitioners’ attorney, Ron Fein, stated on Tuesday that an appeal was imminent.
“While our appeal is pending, the trial court’s decision isn’t binding on any other court, and we continue our current and planned legal actions in other states to enforce Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment against Donald Trump,” Fein, the legal director of Free Speech For People, said in a statement.
The ruling on Tuesday is an additional triumph for Trump, following the Minnesota Supreme Court’s dismissal of a comparable legal petition to exclude him from the state’s primary ballot in 2024 earlier this month.
Such endeavors have been deemed “ignorance” and “election interference” by Trump.
Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung approved of the Michigan ruling.
“Each and every one of these ridiculous cases have LOST because they are all un-Constitutional left-wing fantasies orchestrated by monied allies of the Biden campaign seeking to turn the election over to the courts and deny the American people the right to choose their next president,” Cheung said in a statement, adding that he anticipated similar wins in other efforts to disqualify Trump’s candidacy on the basis of the 14th Amendment.
Similar concerns to those raised in Michigan are being considered by senior election officials in Arizona, New Hampshire, and other states as they prepare state ballots for the upcoming Republican presidential primaries, in which Trump leads all GOP candidates in the polls.
It is ironic that “Democratic” voters are attempting to pull off the biggest undemocratic move — denying the right of their fellow voters to election their candidate of choice.
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