PNN – After two decisions in the states of “Colorado” and “Maine” to disqualify Donald Trump, the question is whether there is a possibility that he will not run in the elections.
According to Pakistan News Network, about 10 days ago, the Colorado State Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump cannot run for office in that state for the intra-party phase of the US presidential election, citing one of the clauses of the US Constitution.
The state of Maine ruled in a similar ruling that his eligibility to be on the ballot was not verified. Which state will go to Trump next?
These rulings are both unprecedented and historic. The Colorado court’s decision was unprecedented in that it targeted a candidate in the US election by citing a clause in the Constitution about inciting “rebellion or sedition”. In the state of Maine, this was the first time that the secretary of internal affairs of a state officially and unilaterally removed a politician’s name from the ballot.
Of course, both of these decisions will be suspended until the legal proceedings are done for them. Trump has appealed both rulings to the United States Supreme Court, and his name will remain on the ballots in these two states until the court rules on his case. This means that Trump’s political fate is now in the hands of the Supreme Court.
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What is a lawsuit about?
Complaints filed against Donald Trump say that his actions on January 6, 2021 were an example of inciting riots.
On that day, when American lawmakers were in Congress to approve the results of the 2020 presidential election, a group of Donald Trump supporters attacked Capitol Hill at his instigation.
Donald Trump believed that Joe Biden’s victory in the election was rigged and the election result should be annulled.
Trump’s critics refer to Section 4 of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and say that he will not have the right to accept federal positions as stipulated in this section.
Passed during the American Civil War, this clause states that those who take an oath to uphold the US Constitution are barred from re-election to federal office if they “incite sedition.”
This clause has already been used to disqualify thousands of candidates from the United States of America (a union of eleven southern states between 1861 and 1865).
Despite this, since 1919, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution has been used only twice, while experts say that the ambiguous tone contained in this legal clause does not include former presidents.
How true is this law about Trump?
Trump is currently facing criminal charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election that ultimately led to the January 6 riots, but invoking Article 3 does not require him to be found guilty.
So far, dozens of lawsuits to disqualify Trump have been filed in state courts in different states. All of these lawsuits had failed until the Colorado court ruling. Dozens of interior secretaries in various states have been asked to remove Trump’s name from the ballots, and these state officials had refused to do so until last night’s decision by Maine’s interior secretary.
The US Supreme Court has never commented on a case based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. Some experts believe that Article 3 does not cover presidents, and therefore the US Supreme Court may overturn the Colorado court’s decision.
Another important point is that Trump does not need to win the state of Colorado to win the election. This state is traditionally considered a Democratic voting base, and in the 2020 elections, he lost the result to Trump with a margin of 13%.
But in Maine, it is more competitive for Trump, and losing the state’s vote could affect his chances of being elected, even though he lost the state to Biden in the 2020 election.
It is expected that until the Supreme Court of the United States makes a clear decision on whether Trump can run for office or not, each state will comment on Trump’s name being placed on the ballot according to its own criteria.
What do Trump’s lawyers say?
Trump’s lawyers have made several arguments against efforts to disqualify him. First, paragraph 3 is not applicable to presidents. In paragraph 3, it is clearly stated that those who incite riots or riots cannot run for the positions of senators or congressmen or federal positions, but the name of the presidency is not mentioned.
Their second argument is that even if this law is applicable to the presidency, such actions are “political” and it is necessary to remove people from the electoral roll directly by the people, not by judges who are not elected by the people.
Another thing is that Trump’s lawyers say that the events of January 6 were not an incitement to a riot or a riot, and even if there was a riot or a riot, Trump was not involved in it and he was simply exercising his right to freedom of speech.
Of course, the lawyers who sued Trump have their own arguments. They say January 6th was a riot, Trump incited people to do it, and therefore he is not qualified to be president.
Can Trump still be president?
If Trump’s name is removed from the ballots in the states of Colorado and Maine with the approval of the US Supreme Court, he can still win the party’s nomination, given the distance he has with his other rivals in the Republican Party.
It should be remembered that Trump lost to Joe Biden in both states in the 2020 presidential election, and it is unlikely that he will need the votes of these two states to win the election.
Despite this, if the Supreme Court approves the removal of Trump’s name in these two states, then the issue will not be limited to the states of Maine and Colorado, and many other states will also work to remove him.
It is not yet clear when the US Supreme Court will hear the appeal of Trump and the Republican Party. But Trump’s name will remain on the ballot until the Supreme Court issues its opinion.
His name will be removed from the ballot only if the US Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s appeal or upholds the ruling of the state courts. In the state of Maine, the Secretary of the Interior’s order will not be enforced unless approved by the state’s Supreme Court.
Analysts in the U.S. have said the Supreme Court justices will need detailed deliberations to decide on the issue, but they are under pressure to rule on the cases before March 5, when most states go to primary polls.
Another important issue in this matter is that the balance of power in the US Supreme Court has changed in recent years in favor of conservatives, and three of the judges of this court were appointed by him during Trump’s presidency.
The Supreme Court’s ruling will also have far-reaching effects on the general election, where Trump will likely face off against Biden. Dozens of states in the US have filed similar lawsuits and are trying to block Trump from running for office.
If Trump is banned from running for election in only one state, it can be predicted that the same practice may spread to more competitive states and will reduce Trump’s chances in the elections that are expected to be closely contested.
For now, any prediction about Trump’s future in the presidential election depends on the verdict that the Supreme Court will issue.