Senator Introduces Federal Bill That Would Block Trump’s Removal From Primary Ballots

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) speaks to supporters in Mooresville, N.C., on Nov. 3, 2020. Brian Blanco/Getty Images

A bill has been introduced in Congress that would effectively ban states from removing former President Donald Trump from their primary ballot based on allegations that he incited the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The move by sponsor Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) comes after Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 19 to remove President Trump from that state’s primary ballot.

“Regardless of whether you support or oppose former President Donald Trump, it is outrageous to see left-wing activists make a mockery of our political system by scheming with partisan state officials and pressuring judges to remove him from the ballot,” Mr. Tillis said in a press release.

The Constitutional Elections Integrity Act would affirm that the U.S. Supreme Court has sole jurisdiction to decide whether President Trump or any other candidate for federal office is qualified to run for president.

The bill specifically calls for barring politicians as well as state courts from “misusing” the 14th Amendment to disqualify President Trump as a presidential candidate. States that do so would lose federal funding for administrative costs related to running elections.

The Colorado Supreme Court’s unprecedented ruling on Dec. 19 says that President Trump caused an attack on the Capitol and therefore is not eligible to run for president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Colorado is the first state to remove President Trump from its primary ballot. Democrats in several other states including Michigan and Arizona have made unsuccessful attempts.

Effort Fails in New Hampshire

In the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, Republicans led a failed bid to keep President Trump off the primary ballot. Bryant “Corky” Messner, who won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate after an endorsement from President Trump, led the charge.

In September, he filed a petition with New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan calling for removing the former president from the ballot, claiming that President Trump had incited an “insurrection” at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Mr. Scanlan rejected the petition. In a conclusion that aligns with Mr. Tillis’s bill, Mr. Scanlan said that only the U.S. Supreme Court has the authority to rule on the eligibility of a candidate to run for a federal office like the presidency.

“There is no mention in New Hampshire state statutes that the candidate in a New Hampshire presidential primary can be disqualified using the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, referencing insurrection or rebellion,” Mr. Scanlan said.

“Similarly, there is nothing in the 14th Amendment that suggests that exercising the provisions of that amendment should take place during the delegate selection process held by the different states.”

President Trump still faces trial in the federal district court in the District of Columbia on a four-count felony criminal indictment that he engaged in an insurrection.

Democrats in Massachusetts are making new efforts to keep him off their primary ballot. This past week, labor lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan, who has won landmark cases against Uber, United Airlines, and the Boston Police Department, is recruiting co-litigants.

Ms. Liss-Riordan ran as a Democratic candidate for Massachusetts attorney general in 2022 and for the U.S. Senate in 2020. She withdrew from the Senate race and lost in the primary for attorney general.

President Donald Trump attended the United States Air Force Academy graduation ceremony at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Col. on May 30, 2019. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

In a statement released immediately following the Colorado court ruling, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung held back little.

“Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat-appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice,” Mr. Cheung said in his statement.

“Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls. They have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November.”

In introducing his bill, Mr. Tillis also argued that partisan politics—not the rule of law—was being used to keep President Trump off primary ballots.

“American voters, not partisan activists, should decide who we elect as our president,” he said. “The Constitutional Election Integrity Act would put any constitutional challenges in the sole place they belong: the U.S. Supreme Court.”

In Colorado, all seven judges involved in the decision are Democratic appointees. In their 4 to 3 bombshell ruling, the judges said that evidence gathered by Congress was sufficient to determine that President Trump “engaged in insurrection.”

“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the Colorado court concluded in its 213-page decision.

“Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”

Different Ruling in Michigan

The ruling differs from a Dec. 14 ruling by the Michigan Court of Appeals, which found that the constitutional provision does not apply yet because President Trump has not been re-elected to any office.

“The Secretary of State must place Trump on this ballot, regardless of whether he would be disqualified from holding office by the Insurrection Clause,” the Michigan court concluded.

Section 3 of The 14th Amendment, which was adopted in 1868 after the Civil War, says the following:

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

The Section concludes with  a provision that says, “Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, waive the prohibition.”

Mr. Cheung indicated that the Trump campaign will appeal the Colorado decision. He stated he has  “full confidence” that it will be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Colorado Supreme Court stayed its ruling until January 4 to allow for appeals or mandates handed down from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Tillis’s bill could circumvent Supreme Court intervention if passed in time.

Senator Censured by Own Party

The North Carolina Republican’s move to guard President Trump’s standing on primary ballots follows a censure of Mr. Tillis by his own party earlier this year.

In June, delegates at the Republican state annual convention voted to censure the senior North Carolina senator for supporting the Democrat-authored federal Respect for Marriage Act.

That law overturned state marriage laws, including a voter-approved North Carolina constitutional amendment that defined marriage as only between a man and a woman.

They also cited his yes vote on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which enables judges to strip some people of their right to possess guns.