Michigan’s Supreme Court has decided that Donald Trump will remain on the state’s ballot, upholding a previous lower court order. This ruling paves the way for the former president’s participation in the Michigan primary, despite facing accusations of leading an insurrection against the United States in connection with the January 6 Capitol attack.
The court’s stance sharply contrasts with the Colorado Supreme Court, which recently opted to remove Trump from its state primary ballot due to his role in the Capitol riot. Notably, challengers in both Michigan and Colorado have cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which broadly disqualifies individuals from holding government office if they have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution after having sworn an oath to uphold it.
Legal experts remain divided on the applicability of this constitutional provision, drafted in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War, to the office of the president. Furthermore, there is ongoing debate about whether Trump’s actions surrounding January 6 legally constitute “insurrection or rebellion.”
Colorado’s decision is currently paused. More than a dozen states have similar litigation in the works, according to a database maintained by Lawfare, which covers national security issues.
The Michigan supreme court justices did not give a reasoning for their decision.
“We are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this court,” the justices wrote in an unsigned, one-paragraph order.
However, in a dissent in which she largely agreed with the court’s order, Justice Elizabeth Welch said that procedural differences may make the difference in Colorado and Michigan’s election laws. The challengers in the case, she added, may “renew their legal efforts as to the Michigan general election later in 2024 should Trump become the Republican nominee for President of the United States or seek such office as an independent candidate”.
Free Speech for the People, the group that brought the lawsuit, stressed that the Michigan supreme court’s decision was made on procedural grounds.
“We are disappointed by the Michigan supreme court’s decision,” said Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech For People, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. But, Fein added: “The decision isn’t binding on any court outside Michigan and we continue our current and planned legal actions in other states to enforce Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment against Donald Trump.”
Michigan is expected to be a battleground state in the 2024 US presidential election. Its primary is set for 27 February 2024.
Trump celebrated the order on the social media platform Truth Social.
“The Michigan Supreme Court has strongly and rightfully denied the Desperate Democrat attempt to take the leading Candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election, me, off the ballot in the Great State of Michigan,” Trump wrote. “We have to save our Country from decline and the Radical Left. Make America Great Again!”
