The Michigan Supreme Court has decided to maintain former President Donald Trump as a candidate in the Republican Party primary elections in the State. The Court said Wednesday that it will not hear an appeal of a lower court ruling by groups seeking to prevent Trump from appearing as an electoral candidate.
The state’s highest court said in an order that the parties’ request to appeal a Dec. 14 Michigan appeals court ruling was considered but denied “because we are not convinced that the issues presented should be reviewed by this court.” “.
The ruling followed the Colorado Supreme Court’s Dec. 19 decision, which declared Trump ineligible to be president for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. It is the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
The Michigan and Colorado cases are some responses to the dozens of lawsuits seeking to keep Trump’s name off state election ballots. They all point to the so-called insurrection clause, which prevents anyone who “has participated in an insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution from holding office.
Trump pressured two election officials in Wayne County, Michigan, not to certify vote totals from the 2020 election, according to a recording of a post-election phone call revealed in a Dec. 22 report by The Detroit News. . The former president’s 2024 campaign has neither confirmed nor denied the legitimacy of the recording.
Lawyers for Free Speech for People, a liberal nonprofit group also involved in efforts to keep Trump’s name off the primary ballot in Minnesota, had asked the Michigan Supreme Court to rule before the day. of Christmas.
The group argued that time was “of the essence” due to “the pressing need to finalize and print ballots for the presidential primary election.”
