By Gus Saltonstall
An Upper West Side elected official, along with four colleagues, sent a letter to the New York State Board of Elections on Thursday pushing for Donald Trump’s name to be left off the 2024 ballot for president.
State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, together with State Senator Liz Krueger and three other state senators, sent a letter urging the NY Board of Elections to exclude Trump’s name from both the New York presidential primary and the general election ballots under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The Fourteenth Amendment states that “no person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States … 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 letter from the senators argues that Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, “make him ineligible to hold office” under the amendment.
“The January 6 insurrection was a violent uprising against the United States that tragically resulted in loss of multiple lives,” reads the letter. “That dark day in our nation’s history was led, facilitated, and encouraged by Trump. The Board must not allow those who participated to run again for office against the mandate of the Constitution.”
Along with the letter, the nonprofit Free Speech for People collected over 14,000 petition signatures from New Yorkers calling on the New York State Board of Elections to bar Trump from the 2024 New York presidential primary and general election ballots.
The Colorado Supreme Court is currently weighing a Fourteenth Amendment challenge to Trump’s ballot eligibility, which will likely eventually land before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Question: How does a state-by-state determination of this issue reflect free and fair elections? If some states have Trump on the ballot (assuming he is the Republican Party’s chosen candidate) and others don’t, doesn’t this stack the deck against a particular candidate? I am not registered with any political party myself.
I presume Brad is proposing this extreme measure because he believes Trump can win
Trump can win because there’s enough progressives unwilling to vote for Biden again.
Most likely you are correct.
The way to lessen the fear of Trump winning in 2024 is to somehow replace Biden as the head of the ticket.
Biden looks and sounds old, wasted, and is not an inspiring leader. Not any more.
1. The Republican Party can choose whom they wish to be their candidate. If they choose a candidate who’s ineligible to be on the ballot in specific states, that’s their decision.
2. Voters in those states can submit a write-in vote for Trump if they wish. Since I’m not a constitutional scholar, I have no idea how/if such votes would be counted, but at least it gives those voters their desired opportunity to “own the libs”.
3. How is this any less free and fair than an Electoral College when a vote in Wyoming (193K population per electoral vote) counts 3.75 times as much a a vote in California (731K population per electoral vote)?
According to you, the root of the problem is that each state has two senators with no regard to their size? That’s what drives the perceived misrepresentation per electoral vote since the number of electors is equal to the number of each state’s representatives plus the two senators. Do you have a problem with that?
That’s the whole point of the Electoral College. Otherwise, no one would pay attention to the issues and needs of the smaller states. A candidate could win the election by gaining the popular vote in less than a third of the states.
Nothing so enhances democracy as disenfranchising the basket of deplorables. Careful, Brad & Liz, what goes around can come around some day, when others come to power & the basket of deplorables will contain your constituents.
That is so true
stan, is that a threat?
Good.
I firmly believe Trump is unfit and a danger to be President once again. But to legally remove his name from the ballot is not far from violating a citizens right. He’s a danger to Democracy but removing his name from the ballot is actually an affront to democracy. Vote him out is the only path to prevent him from endangering our constitutional rights.
This will be laughed out of court again, as it has in every state that has tried this. The BOE may try it, but it will be tossed on lack of merit by any judge. You have to have been tried and found guilty of insurrection against the state (constitutional wording for government.) Trump has not been charged with that anywhere, let alone convicted of it
This just grandstanding, with a “novel” interpretation of a law, with no precedent. Which is exactly what the NYS appeals court ruled when DA Bragg and the state AG tried to make the NY case criminal. They ruled last June that way so they have tried the same charges in civil court. A charge that has never bee brought this way before.
Actually, the cases have NOT been “laughed out of court.” Of 31 filed, six have been dismissed (Minnesota, New Hampshire, Michigan, Florida), six were voluntarily withdrawn (Idaho, Utah, Oklahoma, Main, Pennsylvania, North Carolina), and the remaining ones are pending (NY, TX, NV, AZ, MT, NM, KS, WI, VT, MA, VA, SC, WV, DE, CT, NJ).
But it is important to note that these suits were filed to keep him off the PRIMARY ballot, which is much more difficult, given that a Party can choose its own nominee.
HOWEVER, most Constitutional scholars agree that it will be “easier” (though obviously not guaranteed) to keep him off the ballot for the GENERAL election, based on the current facts and the Constitution. So they expect at least some lawsuits that will be filed vis-a-vis the general election to be successful.
Agreed
One judge in Minnesota already ruled that Trump did violate the 14th Amendment but that the Amendment doesn’t apply to the presidency, which is obviously ridiculous.
That is not what the judge determined. He simply determined that the facts do not apply to the PRIMARY process, but that a new case could be filed with respect to the general election, and that case would have a better chance of passing muster.
You must be thinking of a different case.
Follow our Constitution. Trump should not be allowed on the ballot. The amendment is meant to apply to individuals who led or aided an insurrection against our government. I am not an attorney and this does seem clear. Some fake electors who took part in these efforts have already plead guilty and have been sentenced, other fake electors are under indictment. This is a serious time for our country. Follow our Constitution.
But the next line the self appointed UWS community leaders always leave out is the part about ……”any citizen CONVICTED of insurrection…….” Most folks just hear what they hear
“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. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
Find me the word “convicted” in there….
Thank you, Ian 😉
CONVICTED is NOT in the Constitution:
“Section 3. 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. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
Oh yes it is, what do you think ….”without due process of law means” ??!!??
That is not what the 14th Amendment.
It says “…engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the [United States]”
The U.S. Constitution does not define insurrection or rebellion.
Treating him unfairly will only bring him back to power. That’s what made many people vote for him in 2020.
What’s unfair about applying a rule in the Constitution?
The Dem’s aways seem to think folks will believe anything. Here and across the country they mention Sect 3 of the 14th Amendment to go after Trump and J6er’s. But the always fail to mention the main buddy of the 14th which applies to all its sections and says…….”No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
The process is taking place in real time.
If you can’t beat Trump, you’re doing something wrong in the eyes of the American people. So, they’ve decided to do something else even more wrong — and the outcome, should they succeed, will be worse than Trump.
If you think trust in our institutions is dangerously low now, just wait. They aren’t playing with fire, they’re intentionally setting one and throwing gasoline on it. And why? Trump won’t win NY state — and if he does, we get what we deserve because if the democrats can’t win NEW YORK… they can’t win anywhere.
Neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party are subject to government laws. They are “parties.” The Republican Party should simply (not. my idea, I read it in a comment in the WSJ) institute a new rule that anyone who has lost a Presidential election can’t run again.
I can’t stand Trump but much of his appeal is due to a backlash against “progressive” politicians like these people who want to ban him.
This is a progressive shame, Communism at its finest, the orchestrated creation of a crisis so as to gain totalitarian control. Shame on you UWS. Trump will be looked at as one of the best Presidents ever based on his policies.
so uninformed! And u r an elected!!
Like WHO do u think will
have the stomach to handle the mess
in Washington
I commend them all for sending the letter. I am so proud of NY for taking this stand. 🇺🇸
It’s a two part Constitutional test and Trump clearly meets it. He took an oath to support the Constitution and then gave aid and comfort to insurrectionists. He did both on national television and he still does the latter to this day. He calls the January 6 rioters heroes and says he’ll pardon them.
Moot point. Political posturing. He’ll most likely lose NY anyway.
This will go nowhere and they know it. Maybe work for your constituents instead of publicity stunts?
No, no, no. Let trump lose the old-fashioned way. Excluding him from the ballot actually legitimizes his claims of election rigging. This is a very dumb idea.
I’m so torn because I see the merit in your position, but Trump definitely is an insurrectionist, and he’s gotten away with it.
Orwellian.
Trump is a criminal thug but :
1) this would just instigate Trump voters and 2) is not an appropriate use of Hoylman’s time and focus.
Many NYC problems and constituent needs that Mr. Hoylman should be concerned about.
Donald Trump has not been indicted , much less tried in a court of law for the crime of insurrection. All those alleged defenders of democracy and free speech should think more than twice about the legality of their position.
State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and his colleagues should concentrate on issues that directly effect their constituents such as the flood of illegal migrants destroying and bankrupting NY’s residents rather than grandstanding over matters in which they have no control.
Awesome voter supression tactic! Disenfranchise millions to keep them from voting for the candidate of their choice. Comrades of yore would be so proud.
Liz Krueger butchered the whole cannabis shop situation. She is the reason why we have one on every block. Perhaps a better use of her time would be to concentrate on her district. Where I live. And shelving the big constitutional thoughts for a while.
Seeing this make me feel like yes we are in a Banana republic and I am not a Trump supporter. Can they work on closing the Boarders so NYC does not go bankrupt instead of saying look over here.
Amazing! Let’s indict, arrest and attempt to imprison our political opponents. If that fails, we’ll remove them from the ballot.
That’ll save democracy!
George Orwell couldn’t have written a better script.
Great way to distract from real issues plugging NYC.
I resent this man and what he’s putting this country through. Just because he cannot accept defeat! He cannot admit he lost and has to prove it to himself and doesn’t care what he does to the country or those who thought he was something else other than a spoiled, egotistical, blowhard.
I’m no Trump fan but having our local reps use Stalinist tactics to ban candidates with opposing views is surely a bad thing and will come back to bite them.
I am not advocating for this, frankly the idea scares the hell out of me . Keeping the person who is now the most popular conservative in the country is dangerous. Millions of people who feel they have no voice and are armed with millions of firearms and billions of rounds of ammunition is not a good thing. To those who say ARs can’t compete against tanks and helicopters, the majority of the military and police really like Trump and despise Biden. Democracy works, don’t interfere with it.
Leave it on there! What kind of country do we live in??