Despite a setback in court on Wednesday, U.S. voters and lawyers working to keep former President Donald Trump—the GOP's 2024 front-runner—off the ballot on constitutional grounds remain resolute.
Free Speech for People (FSFP) in September filed a petition in the Minnesota Supreme Court on behalf of eight state residents, arguing that Trump is disqualified serving as president again after inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The Minnesota case and others across the country rely on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who has taken an oath to the U.S. Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding any civil or military office.
In this case, FSFP sought a court order directing Minnesota's secretary of state to exclude Trump from the ballots for the March 5, 2024 presidential nomination primary and November 5, 2024 general election.
"We continue our current and planned legal actions in other states to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against Donald Trump."
Regarding the March contest, the high court found that "although the secretary of state and other election officials administer the mechanics of the election, this is an internal party election to serve internal party purposes, and winning the presidential nomination primary does not place the person on the general election ballot as a candidate for president of the United States."
"Because there is no error to correct here as to the presidential nomination primary, and petitioners' other claims regarding the general election are not ripe, the petition must be dismissed, but without prejudice as to petitioners bringing a petition raising their claims as to the general election," the court added.
While Trump's 2024 campaign celebrated the ruling, FSFP legal director Ron Fein, who argued the case earlier this month, said Wednesday that "we are disappointed by the court's decision."
"However, the Minnesota Supreme Court explicitly recognized that the question of Donald Trump's disqualification for engaging in insurrection against the U.S. Constitution may be resolved at a later stage," he highlighted.
Charles Nauen of Lockridge Grindal Nauen in Minneapolis, another attorney for the petitioners, said that "we are grateful for the eight petitioners who bravely stepped forward to defend the Constitution."
The petitioners included a former Minnesota secretary of state, an ex-associate justice of the state Supreme Court, a retired labor union official, a University of Minnesota Law School professor, a previous St. Paul deputy mayor, and a 22-year veteran of the Minnesota National Guard who served in Iraq.
"Rest assured," Nauen declared, "Minnesotans will continue to stand up for our democracy."
Meanwhile, Fein declared that "the decision isn't binding on any court outside Minnesota and we continue our current and planned legal actions in other states to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against Donald Trump."
FSFP has a case in Michigan and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) brought a similar challenge in Colorado.
In addition to those efforts to keep him off the ballot, Trump faces a total of 91 felony charges from two federal and two state-level criminal cases—two of which relate to his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. He is also in the midst of a civil fraud trial in New York.
