An amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified three years after the Civil War to prevent former Confederates (slaves) from serving in government, is being used to try to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballots. After the Colorado Supreme Court, Maine’s secretary of state also decided to exclude the Republican’s name. A decision that in both cases is suspended pending appeal, under pressure on the US Supreme Court to rule.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, passed in 1868, prevents anyone who participated in an insurrection from holding public office. Dozens of complaints have been filed alleging that Trump cannot run for president because of his role in the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the day Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election was certified. the amendment does not require prior judicial conviction.
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or an elector of the President or Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, in the United States, or in any State, if, after having previously has taken an oath, as a member of Congress or as an officer of the United States (…), to conform to the Constitution of the United States, has engaged in any insurrection or rebellion therefrom, or has provided aid or comfort given to his enemies. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove any such handicap”
‘I am aware that there is no Minister of Foreign Affairs [responsável máximo pelas eleições a nível estadual] once deprived a presidential candidate of a vote under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. But I am also aware that no presidential candidate has ever engaged in insurrection,” Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, wrote in her 34-page ruling in Maine.
The Secretary of State found that Trump “used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and send them to the Capitol to prevent the certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transition of power.” Bellows further opined that the then-president “was aware of the potential for violence and, at least initially, supported its use as he encouraged it with his inflammatory rhetoric and failed to take timely action to stop it.”
Dozens of other secretaries of state were called to speak, as well as other senior figures of the state. According to The New York Times, fourteen cases are still open. The highest courts in Minnesota and Michigan have decided to keep the former president’s name, saying they do not have the authority to prevent candidates from appearing on the ballot in the primaries and that the decision is up to the parties. However, they said those who wanted to stop Trump might try again if he is officially chosen as the Republican nominee.
Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, another Democrat, also opined that she does not have the authority to rule — pending a decision from the state Supreme Court. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, also a Democrat, confirmed Trump’s name. In addition to the fact that election officials in the state have little power to fire candidates, he spoke of “complex legal issues” and said he would await developments, namely a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Bellows herself admitted that the last word will be from this body, but that she had a duty to speak out.
The nine justices of the US Supreme Court are expected to be asked to take a position after Republicans and Trump himself challenged the decision of Colorado’s highest court – which ruled 4-3 that he should not be on the primary ballot appearing for his involvement in an insurrection – as well as Maine’s Secretary of State. A spokesman for former president Steven Cheung called both decisions “partisan election interference” and “a hostile attack on American democracy.”
The US Supreme Court has a conservative majority (six justices appointed by Republicans, including three by Trump, and three by Democrats). But under the normal calendar, the matter would not have to be evaluated until after the start of the official race for the Republican nomination – the first caucus is on January 15 in Iowa, while the first primaries are on January 23 in New Hampshire. .
The group of voters who won the Colorado case wrote a letter to the Supreme Court on Thursday asking it to speed up the decision-making process. They are asking for a decision before Super Tuesday, March 5, when nine states will vote, including Colorado and Maine. But Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has already warned that the decision will be next on January 5, the day when candidates must be validated in order to print ballots.
Source: DN
