Former President Donald Trump will remain on Michigan’s ballot for the state’s 2024 presidential primary, a judge ruled on Tuesday.
Trump’s opponents have argued in multiple states that the former president is ineligible for office under the 14th Amendment. They state that Trump’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol constituted insurrection against the U.S.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge James Redford rejected that argument, however.
“The judicial action of removing a candidate from the presidential ballot and prohibiting them from running essentially strips Congress of its ability to ‘by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such a disability,'” Redford wrote.
“The question of whether he is ineligible due to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment presents a political question that is nonjusticiable at the present time,” the judge continued. “The question of whether Donald Trump is qualified or disqualified from appearing on the 2024 general election ballot in Michigan is not ripe for adjudication at this time.”
Trump is facing a similar effort to remove him from the primary ballot in Colorado.
Currently pending is a decision out of a Colorado lawsuit. Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and six Colorado voters filed their lawsuit in September to block Trump from appearing on the primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment.
The Trump team has made multiple motions to dismiss the case, but Judge Sarah B. Wallace has rejected them.
So far, however, none of the attempts to get Trump removed from a ballot have been successful. The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block Trump’s candidacy this week. Courts also swatted down a similar move in New Hampshire.
