Trump sought and actively tried to subvert constitutional government and overturn the results of the presidential election. And what he could not do through the arcane rules and procedures of the Electoral College, he tried to do through the threat of brute force, carried out by an actual mob.

    • If you can’t cough up the fee (typically $100 or less for most state and local offices) and get several dozen people to sign your nominating papers (varies somewhat by state and office) you’re wasting your time running in the first place.

      The big reason we don’t see third parties doing well in the US is that the bulk of the country uses first-past-the-post general elections. These mean that a vote for a third party candidate hurts the people most apt to implement the policies you care about.

      Three cases:


      Case 1:

      D - 10 votes, R - 9 votes, I - 0 votes

      Democrat wins


      Case 2:

      D - 9 votes, R - 9 votes, I - 1 vote

      Tied election and a coin toss used to decide winner


      Case 3:

      D - 8 votes, R - 9 votes, I - 2 votes

      Republican wins

  • This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Last month, the states of Colorado and Maine moved to disqualify Donald Trump as a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

    In response, Trump has asked the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf in the Colorado case and he has appealed Maine’s decision.

    Trump, the committee wrote, “unlawfully pressured State officials and legislators to change the results of the election in their States.” He “oversaw an effort to obtain and transmit false electoral certificates to Congress and the National Archives.” He “summoned tens of thousands of supporters to Washington for January 6th,” the day Congress was slated to certify the election results, and “instructed them to march to the Capitol” so that they could “ ‘take back’ their country.’ ” He even sent a message on Twitter attacking his vice president, Mike Pence, knowing full well that “a violent attack on the Capitol was underway.”

    Under a plain reading of Section 3 — and given the evidence uncovered by the Jan. 6 committee — Trump cannot stand for the presidency of the United States or any other federal office, for that matter.

    It would also invite Trump’s allies in the Republican Party to do the same to Democrats, weaponizing Section 3 and disqualifying candidates for any number of reasons.

    And while it will be tempting to attribute this outcome to the ideological composition of the court — as well as the fact that Trump appointed three of its nine members — I think it will, if it happens, have as much to do with the zone of exception that exists around the former president.


    The original article contains 1,515 words, the summary contains 272 words. Saved 82%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • The front runner and probable nominee. I think its clear he violated the 14th amendment, and because this is/has/will be a political issue he needs to run, and he needs to loose.

    If he is denied the chance to be on the ballot as valid as it may be then he can justify everything as proof the system is rigged, so he should get to rig it in his flavor, with violence and war if needed.

      •  ulkesh   ( @ulkesh@beehaw.org ) 
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        29 months ago

        Exactly. The Constitution is the highest law in this country. He broke the law — plain and simple. And what’s more, the Constitution doesn’t require conviction by a jury of his peers for his ineligibility from holding office. It just is.

        It’s no surprise, though, that the die-hard constitutionalists, just like religionists with their bible, will cherry-pick and tailor the words of the Constitution to suit their agenda. And also no surprise that that Venn diagram overlaps almost completely.

        The moron should be barred from every ballot. It makes no difference what continued web of lies he spins — he’ll be dead soon, and the last thing this country needs is the precedent set that the President is above all law.

  • The one possible out is that he hasn’t been completely convicted of the crimes involved yet. I really hope he is soon. It worries me that he might get some court to say “no, he’s not been charged, put him back on the ballot”, and then he is, and then they go “no double jeopardy on taking him off the ballot, we went over this”