A group of voters in Minnesota are trying to bar Trump from the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment, alleging he violated his oath of office by inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

The trial over an effort in Minnesota to keep former President Donald Trump off of the 2024 ballot began Thursday at the state Supreme Court as a similar case continued in Colorado.

The lawsuits in both states allege Trump should be barred from the 2024 ballot for his conduct leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. They argue Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which says no one who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after swearing an oath to support and defend the Constitution can hold office.

A group of Minnesota voters, represented by the election reform group Free Speech for People, sued in September to remove Trump from the state ballot under the 14th Amendment provision. The petitioners include former Minnesota Secretary of State Joan Growe and former state Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    1·
    1 year ago

    Why do we keep going in circles here?

    1. The trial is to remove him from the ballot.

    2. It doesn’t matter whether or not the January 6 trial finds him guilty. The Constitution does not require him to be convicted in order to remove him from the ballot.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            1·
            1 year ago

            I think the whole problem stems from you just not reading the article:

            The lawsuit doesn’t name Trump as a defendant. Instead, it names Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, who had previously rejected letters from Free Speech for People demanding him to take action. Simon has maintained that his office lacks the authority to determine a candidate’s eligibility to run for office.