Trump Will ‘Either Be on the Ballot Everywhere or Nowhere’: Minnesota Secretary of State

Former President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he arrives at the New York State Supreme Court during the civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization, in New York City, on Dec. 7, 2023. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon predicts former President Donald Trump to either be on ballots in every state across America or be absent everywhere in the aftermath of the Colorado Supreme Court decision to ban the candidate from the state’s ballot.

“We’re never going to have a situation in this country where one or some cluster of states decides that Donald Trump is not on the ballot and everyone else decides he is,” Mr. Simon said in a Dec. 23 interview with MSNBC. “He will either be on the ballot everywhere or nowhere. And the US Supreme Court is going to make sure of that. So they will take the case. There’s no question in my mind, just for the sake of national uniformity. And that means we’re going to have resolution. We’re going to have clarity here.”

However, there are “so many different ways” for the U.S. Supreme Court to approach and resolve the matter, he stated.

“There are multiple off-ramps for them, for example, to decide the case without deciding the ultimate issue, which is did Donald Trump engage in or help in insurrection. They don’t have to decide that. There are a number of ways they can dispose of the case and get an outcome without deciding that question.”

The Minnesota Secretary of State raised the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court may not decide on the issue and could instead return the case to Colorado, asking they develop a factual record “a bit more,” add more testimony, or add more due process.

“A lot of states are in wait and see mode. This is the canary in the coal mine,“ he said. ”This is the case that’s headed, we know, almost certainly to the US Supreme Court.”

“A lot of people who have already brought these suits or are thinking about bringing these suits are probably waiting … to see what the Supreme Court does.”

Mr. Simon called the entire matter “administratively crazy,” and that the people of Colorado are “up in the air” about whether a major presidential candidate would be on the ballot or not.

“There’s that extra angst and anxiety trying to figure out just logistically, just administratively, how this is going to work if and when this spills over into a general election.”

Colorado’s Supreme Court barred President Trump from appearing on state ballots in a 4–3 decision last week. The ruling was based on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits individuals who have engaged in “insurrection” from taking public office.

The 14th Amendment provision was applied to President Trump for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

The Colorado court’s decision has been stayed until Jan. 4 “pending any review by the U.S. Supreme Court.” If the top Court agrees to review the ruling by then, Colorado will be required to allow President Trump’s name in the primary ballot. Otherwise, he would be removed.

Banning Trump From Ballots

A lawsuit to ban President Trump from Minnesota’s primary ballot was earlier filed by a liberal group called Free Speech for People. However, the Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed the case last month.

Similar lawsuits were also filed in Arizona and New Hampshire, both of which failed to remove President Trump from the ballot. A case in Michigan is being appealed. Lawsuits in a few other states are still pending.

Last week, California’s Democrat Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis sent a letter to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, asking that she explore “every legal option” to prohibit President Trump from appearing on the primary ballot.

“California must stand on the right side of history … This is not a matter of political gamesmanship. This is a dire matter that puts at stake the sanctity of our Constitution and our democracy,” Ms. Kounalakis wrote.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, rejected such calls. In a Dec. 22 statement, he told fellow Democrats that “in California, we defeat candidates at the polls … Everything else is a political distraction.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) called the Colorado Supreme Court decision banning President Trump from primary ballots “election interference and a move of pure fear,” according to a Dec. 21 X post.

“They’ve put politics ahead of the Constitution. The people celebrating this misguided action have no idea how dangerous this is for our Republic. We are going to fight back and I’m confident that the Supreme Court will overturn this awful decision!”

In a blog post, constitutional attorney KrisAnne Hall pointed out that there has been “no trial convicting Donald Trump of insurrection.” As such, the Colorado Supreme Court “had no legal basis to disqualify him for a violation of section 3 of the 14th Amendment.”

“If the Colorado Supreme Court had been doing its job judiciously, it would have required PROOF that the terms of this disqualification were met, namely a CONVICTION for insurrection,” she wrote.

“If the qualification of being 35 years old requires the proof of a birth certificate, it is surely not unreasonable to know that the disqualification for insurrection requires that the crime of insurrection actually occurred. The Colorado court jumped to conclusions of guilt. The guilt of insurrection has NOT been proven.”