NC court challenge aims to remove Trump from the ballot. Will lawmakers get involved?
A challenge to former President Donald Trump’s candidacy will likely be decided by state courts with only months to go until the primary election.
But both lawmakers and the U.S. Supreme Court could get involved before a final decision is made.
The challenge argues that Trump is ineligible to hold office because he participated in an insurrection against the government, referring to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Donald Trump held the Office of the President, took an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, and later engaged in an insurrection against the Constitution’s provisions governing the transfer of power to a duly elected successor,” says the complaint, filed by Brian Martin of Stokes County.
Maine and Colorado have both removed Trump from the ballot for similar reasons. Both decisions are on hold.
Martin’s complaint first went to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, which said last month it did not have the authority to consider a challenge to a presidential primary candidate.
Siobhan Millen, a Democrat, was the only member of the board to vote against dismissing the complaint.
“It’s troubling to me we have a voter who’s gone to the trouble to fill out a facially very impressive challenge form and we are, to me, hiding behind a technicality by saying it doesn’t apply, that we won’t even hear it,” she said.
Martin appealed the board’s decision to Wake County Superior Court on Friday, asking it to order the board to hear his challenge. He also asked the court to expedite a decision so the matter could be resolved before the primary on March 5.
Other states try to remove Trump from ballot
Colorado was the first state to remove Trump from the Republican primary ballot, with its Supreme Court ruling last month that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prevents Trump from holding office due to his participation in an insurrection.
It was the first time that a court used that section of the Constitution (the same one cited by Martin) to remove a presidential candidate from the ballot.
Then, on Dec. 28, Maine’s secretary of state blocked Trump from appearing on the ballot as well, also citing his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Neither decision is final. Both will likely be decided on by the U.S. Supreme Court early this year.
Republicans push to block challenges to Trump
North Carolina’s Republican lawmakers at the state and federal level have expressed interest in legislation that would block any efforts to remove Trump from the ballot.
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis announced he would file a bill called “The Constitutional Election Integrity Act,” which would give the U.S. Supreme Court the sole authority to review challenges to presidential eligibility based on insurrection claims.
“Regardless of whether you support or oppose former President Donald Trump, it is outrageous to see left-wing activists make a mockery of our political system by scheming with partisan state officials and pressuring judges to remove him from the ballot,” Tillis said in a press release last month.
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore suggested the state may consider similar legislation.
“I think we need to take a stand and give the voters the right to make that choice,” Moore told reporters last month. “If they don’t like President Trump, then they don’t have to vote for him, but they should have the right to vote for him.”
This story was originally published January 2, 2024 at 11:59 AM with the headline "NC court challenge aims to remove Trump from the ballot. Will lawmakers get involved?."
