Donald Trump can appear on Michigan primary ballot after Supreme Court declines to hear appeal
WATERLOO, IOWA - DECEMBER 19: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a campaign event on December 19, 2023 in Waterloo, Iowa. Iowa Republicans will be the first to select their partys nomination for t
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan's Supreme Court is keeping former President Donald Trump on the state's primary election ballot.
The state's high court said in an order that the application by parties to appeal a Dec. 14 Michigan appeals court judgment was considered, but denied "because we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this court."
The ruling followed a Dec. 19 decision by a divided Colorado Supreme Court which found Trump ineligible to be president because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. That ruling was the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
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Judge rules that Trump will be on 2024 ballot, rejecting cases based on insurrection claim
Court of Claims Judge James Redford rejected arguments that Trump's role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol meant the court had to declare him ineligible for the presidency.
The Michigan and Colorado cases are among dozens hoping to keep Trump's name off state ballots. They all point to the so-called insurrection clause that prevents anyone from holding office who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the Constitution.
Trump pressed two election officials in Michigan's Wayne County not to certify 2020 vote totals, according to a recording of a post-election phone call disclosed in a Dec. 22 report by The Detroit News. The former president's 2024 campaign has neither confirmed nor denied the recording's legitimacy.
Attorneys 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 Michigan's Supreme Court to render its decision by Christmas Day.
The group argued that time was "of the essence" due to "the pressing need to finalize and print the ballots for the presidential primary election."
Earlier this month, Michigan's high court refused to immediately hear an appeal, saying the case should remain before the appeals court.
Free Speech for People had sued to force Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to bar Trump from Michigan's ballot. But a Michigan Court of Claims judge rejected their arguments, saying in November that it was the proper role of Congress to decide the question.