Minnesota Supreme Court dismisses bid to keep Donald Trump off 2024 primary ballot
Nov. 8 (UPI) -- In a victory for Donald Trump, the Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a bid Wednesday to remove the former president from the state's primary ballot in 2024.
While the Minnesota justices kept Trump on the ballot for next year's primary election in March, they did not secure his spot on the ballot for the general election, leaving the door open for another challenge if he wins the Republican nomination.
"There is no state statute that prohibits a major political party from placing on the presidential nomination primary ballot, or sending delegates to the national convention, a candidate who is ineligible to hold office," the court wrote in the four-page ruling.
"Although the Secretary of State and other election officials administer the mechanics of the election, this is an internal party election to serve internal party purposes, and winning the presidential nomination primary does not place the person on the general election ballot as a candidate for President of the United States," the court said.
Last week, a group of challengers argued that Trump should not appear on the state's GOP primary ballot due to the 14th Amendment's "insurrection clause."
The 14th amendment states that U.S. officials, who take an oath to uphold the Constitution," are banned from future office if they "engaged in insurrection or rebellion."
Trump's campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called Wednesday's ruling "further validation of the Trump Campaign's consistent argument that the 14th Amendment ballot challenges are nothing more than strategic, un-Constitutional attempts to interfere with the election."
Similar challenges to disqualify Trump from the ballot are ongoing in Colorado and Michigan, as Cheung argued the lawsuits "should be summarily thrown out wherever they next arise."
In Colorado, Trump's attorneys have pushed back on the former president's role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Witness testimony wrapped up Friday, with closing arguments scheduled for next week.
Trump's attorneys filed a lawsuit last week to stop Michigan's secretary of state from keeping him off the ballot for both the state's 2024 presidential primary and general elections. The lawsuit argues that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson lacks the authority to determine whether the former president can be disqualified under the 14th Amendment.
