Category Archives: ballot access

Watch Video of My Appearance with Geoff Bennett on PBS New Hour Discussing Potential Trump Disqualification in Maine and Likely SCOTUS Review

December 29, 2023, 4:37 pmballot accessRick Hasen

You can watch here. Shorter excerpt: Maine’s top election official ruled last night that Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot in 2024, citing his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.@GeoffRBennett talks… Continue reading

Maine Secretary of State, Piggybacking on the Reasoning of the Recent Colorado Supreme Court Decision, Finds Trump Disqualified and Orders Him Off Primary Ballot (But Decision Stayed for Judicial Review)–Makes SCOTUS Review of Issue More Likely

December 28, 2023, 4:12 pmballot access, election subversion riskRick Hasen

You can find the 34-page decision of the Maine Secretary of State at this link. Much of the reasoning of this decision tracks the analysis of the Colorado Supreme Court in Anderson. As Derek has suggested, the Colorado decision… Continue reading

Colorado Republican Party Files Cert Petition in Case Involving Trump’s Disqualification from the Colorado Primary Ballot

December 28, 2023, 5:12 amballot access, election subversion riskRick Hasen

You can find it here (no docket number yet, via Marty Lederman). Trump is expected to file a separate cert. petition, raising somewhat different issues.

BREAKING: by 4-3 vote, Colorado Supreme Court bars Trump from primary ballot

December 19, 2023, 3:06 pmballot accessDerek Muller

The Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, has issued its decision in Anderson v. Griswold, here. (Disclosure: I filed an amicus brief in support of neither party in the case.) From the opinion: In this appeal from a… Continue reading

“McCarthy-endorsed Vince Fong can’t legally run for Congress, California secretary of state says”

December 16, 2023, 10:04 amballot accessDerek Muller

Sacramento Bee: Assemblyman Vince Fong cannot run to succeed Rep. Kevin McCarthy in the 20th Congressional District, California’s secretary of state announced Friday in a ruling that will almost certainly prompt a legal challenge by the Republican candidate over… Continue reading

“Woman raises concerns as San Francisco cracks down on Chinese names on ballots”

December 15, 2023, 6:28 amballot accessDerek Muller

NBC Bay Area: The city of San Francisco recently began cracking down on the practice of candidates choosing their own Chinese names to appear on a ballot as a way to appeal to Asian American voters. Now, a woman… Continue reading

Michigan Court of Appeals keeps Trump on ballot, holds state law does not allow investigation into candidate qualifications

December 14, 2023, 1:33 pmballot accessDerek Muller

Despite hundreds of pages written on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment in recent months, the threshold jurisdictional issue bars yet another claim. The Michigan Court of Appeals (opinion here) follows Arizona and Minnesota in concluding there is… Continue reading

“Colorado Reconsiders Letting Trump on the Ballot”

December 13, 2023, 1:54 pmballot accessDerek Muller

Amy Davidson Sorkin in the New Yorker: There is only one real conclusion to draw from the oral arguments before the Colorado Supreme Court last Wednesday, about whether Donald Trump is constitutionally disqualified from running for President again because… Continue reading

Recent news of pending Section 3 challenges

December 12, 2023, 5:41 amballot accessDerek Muller

In Michigan, the case has been submitted without argument to a court of appeals panel. The Michigan Supreme Court declined to take immediate review of the case. In Colorado, the state supreme court heard oral argument last week.… Continue reading

“Still Annoyed at Biden, New Hampshire Democrats Gear Up to Help Him”

December 11, 2023, 1:34 pmballot access, campaignsDerek Muller

New York Times on a primary write-in campaign: New Hampshire Democrats were furious at President Biden when he shook up the party’s nominating calendar last year, diminishing their state’s political importance by pushing its primary election behind South Carolina’s. Kicking… Continue reading

“The expensive, daunting fight to get RFK Jr.’s name on state ballots”

December 11, 2023, 5:31 amballot accessDerek Muller

Axios: The Kennedy campaign has divided the state requirements into a tiered system based on whether they require a VP pick, the amount of signatures needed, whether there is a date for when they can begin petitioning and their… Continue reading

“Colorado Supreme Court Takes Up Trump’s Eligibility to Be President”

December 6, 2023, 5:44 pmballot access, election subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: The Colorado Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on the question of whether former President Donald J. Trump is barred from holding office again under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which disqualifies people who engaged in insurrection against the… Continue reading

“‘Test case’ for America: Colorado’s top court poised to weigh Trump’s eligibility to run again”

December 6, 2023, 8:11 amballot access, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Politico: So far, no court has declared Trump ineligible, and few of the cases have advanced beyond initial stages. In Minnesota, the state supreme court dismissed a challenge seeking to bar Trump from that state’s Republican primary ballot, but… Continue reading

“R.F.K. Jr. Allies Say They’ll Spend Over $10 Million on Ballot Access”

December 4, 2023, 4:24 pmballot access, third partiesRick Hasen

NYT: A super PAC backing the independent presidential candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to spend $10 million to $15 million to get Mr. Kennedy on the ballot in 10 states, a substantial effort that, even if partly… Continue reading