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Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media at one of his properties, 40 Wall Street, following closing arguments in his civil fraud trial on January 11, 2024 in New York City.
CNN
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The Oregon Supreme Court Friday Refused to Hear Attempt to Remove Former President Donald Trump from 2024 Vote The US Supreme Court is awaiting a ruling on the issue based on the 14th Amendment's “sedition ban”.
The ruling comes after Colorado and Maine kicked Trump off the ballot after judges and officials ruled that his role in the January 6 riots made him ineligible for office. However, those decisions have been stayed to allow for appeals.
Trump has won in other states where courts have dismissed cases on procedural grounds, never getting caught up in questions about January 6. He has beaten off challenges in Minnesota, Michigan and Arizona — and California's top elections official recently decided to put him on the ballot. There too.
The Oregon court did not rule on the merits of the challenge, specifically citing an ongoing case before the U.S. Supreme Court that will be heard. Oral arguments in a Colorado case On February 8.
Similar lawsuits have been filed by Trump critics across the country who say they are trying to enforce the 14th Amendment. They said the “insurgency ban” was specifically designed to protect the country from someone like Trump — who defied his oath of office and sparked deadly Capitol riots when he tried to sway the 2020 election.
Trump says the lawsuits are a thinly veiled attempt to abuse the legal system and subvert the Constitution, keeping him out of the White House because he can't win the election.
The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, states that U.S. officers who take an oath to uphold the Constitution are disqualified from future office if they “engage in insurrection” or “aid or comfort” others. However, the constitution did not specify how the ban would be enforced, and the vague phrasing led to questions about whether it even applied to the presidency.
Free Speech for the People, a liberal advocacy group, filed the suit directly with the Oregon Supreme Court late last year.
Oregon elections officials say names on the primary ballot must be finalized by March 21. The Oregon primary is May 21.
Removing Trump from the primary ballot may have less impact. Oregon is one of the final states to hold a GOP contest, so the nomination race could be decided by then. According to the Republican National Committee, Oregon's GOP delegates will be assigned based on the results of the state party convention ballot on May 25.
Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, a Democrat, previously asked the court to throw out the case on procedural grounds.
Basically, Griffin-Valette argued that now is not the time to examine Trump's fitness for office. He said the Oregon law requiring a determination of whether a candidate is “disqualified” applies only to the general election, not the GOP primary.
Trump's attorneys have said Griffin-Valette agreed that the case should be thrown out on procedural grounds based on the state's ballot access laws.
This story has been updated with additional information.
