Connecticut Secretary of State will not force Trump from the ballot

The office of Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas announced it will not agitate to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot of the state’s 2024 Republican presidential primary.

The announcement follows a ruling by Colorado’s Supreme Court to remove him from that state’s primary ballots. The Colorado court cited Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 riots in 2021 and claimed that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits Americans engaged in insurrectionist activities from seeking electing office.
While Thomas’ office has received requests to use the 14th Amendment to keep Trump from the ballot, it ultimately decided not to become involved in the constitutional debate over the legality of using the Civil War-era amendment to decide the next election.

“While the Connecticut Secretary of the State has limited discretion over the placement of a candidate’s name on the Presidential Preference Primary ballot, the Secretary does not have jurisdiction over determining whether the Fourteenth Amendment disqualifies Donald J. Trump from appearing on either the Presidential Preference Primary ballot or the general election ballot of November 2024, only a court does,” Jillian Hirst, a spokesperson for Thomas, said in a statement published by CTNewsJunkie.com. “It would be in the best interest of our country’s democracy for the U.S. Supreme Court to adjudicate the issue and provide direction to the states.”

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