Lawsuits in 14 US states aim to exclude Donald Trump from the presidential race
Former President Donald Trump is one of the country's favorite candidates for the office of US President in the 2024 elections Trump appears as the leader of his party, the Republican Party. However, he faces legal problems that could result in him being banned from voting in some states across the country.
The U.S. election process has its peculiarities, and one of them is that states have broad autonomy to make decisions about voting rules in each location.
Recently, the states of Colorado and Maine decided that Trump cannot run for president. This means that if these decisions are upheld, voters in these two states will not have the opportunity to vote for the politician, but in other states he will still be a candidate.
Both are considered historic decisions in the USA. The rationale for both is the same: Trump was involved in an insurrection as president, and there is an article in the country's constitution that prevents people holding public office from participating in an insurrection and then being renominated.
However, none of the decisions are final. The matter is before the US Supreme Court. Similar lawsuits exist in more than 10 states, and the country's highest court is expected to rule on the case.
In practice, the question that the Supreme Court justices will have to decide will be whether Trump can run for office after the attack on the US Congress building on January 6, 2021.
Between 1861 and 1865 the USA experienced a very violent civil war. Some states wanted to secede (which is why the war is also called a civil war).
After this confrontation, an article was inserted into the constitution containing a clause intended to prevent former leaders who were involved in the attempted separation from holding public office again.
It is this clause, known as Section 3, that Trump would be violating if decisions unfavorable to him were made.
This article was no longer used, but was discussed again after January 6, 2021.
How Trump goes down in history
Former President Donald Trump is already being sued over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
The final act of Trump's attempt to rig the election was the invasion of the Capitol (US Congress building).
Even without a criminal conviction, Trump can be prevented from running for office due to Section 3. Several groups have filed lawsuits in the United States or with petitions to secretaries of state to bar Trump from running in elections based on the article.
Until the Colorado court's decision, no case had been successful. The state of Maine's decision was also important because many secretaries of state said they did not have the authority to make this decision.
The case could go to the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has never made a decision on the constitutionality of Section 3 or how that rule should be applied.
Now the case must reach the Supreme Court. This is because the Republican Party (Donald Trump's party) has already appealed the decision. Trump himself also has to appeal.
Maine's decision still needs to be heard in state courts.
US legal experts say there could be chaos in the election if the Supreme Court does not resolve the matter.
Donald Trump's lawyers have some arguments. Check out some of them below.
- Section 3 does not apply to the President.
- Even if this were the case, it is a political issue that should be decided by voters, not the courts.
- If Trump is disqualified from running under Section 3, he will be stripped of his right to a trial to impute crimes against him.
- The storming of the Congress building on January 6, 2021 was not a resurrection but a type of insurrection, and Section 3 addresses insurrections.
- If an insurrection were to actually occur, Trump would not interfere because he would only be exercising his right to free speech.
The arguments of the groups that want to prevent Trump's candidacy are as follows:
- The attack on the Congress building was a riot.
- Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to attack the building and lawmakers.