Much to the disappointment of my parents, I have been fairly checked out of the 2024 presidential election. My associate editor, Dan Stark, wrote a wonderful article last semester that more or less sums up my own feelings about the upcoming election. However, there has been one story of the election that has caught and sustained my attention: the increasing attempts by states to remove former President Donald Trump from their election ballots.
As of right now, only two states have successfully removed him from their ballots. On Dec. 19, in a 4-3 ruling, the Colorado Supreme Court found Trump ineligible for the primary on the grounds he committed insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Afterwards, Maine’s Supreme Court also found Trump ineligible to appear on the ballot on the grounds of insurrection.
The legal basis that both courts used was Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Also known as the insurrection clause, it bans those who engaged in insurrection from holding office in the United States. It was created with the purpose of preventing former officers of the Confederacy from holding elected office in the post-Civil War United States. However, this is the first time in American history that it has been used to bar someone from holding office.
This case is currently on its way to the United States Supreme Court, which will have the final say regarding Trump’s ballot status. I’ve gone back and forth on how I feel about this. Taking into consideration the current ideological makeup of the court and the general history this country has of not prosecuting current and former presidents, I don’t expect either state’s ruling to be upheld by the Supreme Court. However, I believe that Trump should be removed from the 2024 ballot on the grounds of insurrection.
First, there are the findings of the year and half long Jan 6. Committee. One of the major conclusions of the 161-page report was that “Donald Trump purposely disseminated false allegations of fraud in order to overturn the election outcome and raise money. Those lies directly provoked his supporters on Jan. 6.”
It’s not just through his words that Trump was spreading chaos in our electoral system; there was also his phony elector scheme. Across seven states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – electors signed official documents asserting that they were their state’s electors. They wrote that Trump, not President Joe Biden, was the lawful winner in these states. This is a blatant violation of election procedure and administration.
This is an issue I’ve gone back and forth on. On the one hand, I don’t love the potential precedent it could create to kick candidates off the ballots; I could see legal floodgates being opened every election cycle with attempts to get certain candidates off the ballot. In addition, Trump technically has not been convicted for insurrection. While he has been indicted on four felony charges, he has yet to be convicted on them.
Donald Trump purposely disseminated false allegations of fraud in order to overturn the election outcome and raise money. Those lies directly provoked his supporters on Jan. 6.
Jan 6. Committee Report
Under the eyes of the law, Trump is still innocent. However, I believe that if people show you who they truly are, you should believe them, and Trump’s go-to move after any electoral failure from either himself or his party is to call the entire process fraudulent.
Going as far back as when he first campaigned in 2016, Trump’s go-to move to explain his and his party’s electoral shortcomings is to call the entire system rigged. After he lost the Iowa caucus to Zodiac Killer look-alike Ted Cruz, he tweeted out that “Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.”
In the buildup to the 2018 midterm election, an election where Democrats would take a majority in the House, he tweeted out: “Law Enforcement has been strongly notified to watch closely for any ILLEGAL VOTING which may take place in Tuesday’s Election (or Early Voting). Anyone caught will be subject to the Maximum Criminal Penalties allowed by law.”
Here is the frustrating thing about this case: it never had to come to court challenges. After the attacks of Jan. 6, Trump was impeached for the second time. Had the required two-thirds majority in order to convict been met, the Senate would have had the power to prevent him from holding office again.
Trump is on the ballot due to the refusal of his own party to meaningfully hold him accountable for his actions. The only true consequence of Trump’s actions has been more Republican voters wanting to vote for him than ever before. Coupled with Biden’s approval rating sinking to an all time low, another four years of Trump is a reality we are staring down.
Only in America can trying to overthrow an election make more people want to vote for you. Welcome to democalypse 2024, folks. I need a drink.