Will Donald Trump be on Maryland primary ballots in 2024? Question under consideration by secretary of state
The question of whether Donald Trump is eligible to appear on Maryland’s Republican primary ballot is under consideration by the secretary of state, her office said Wednesday, one day after a Colorado court disqualified the former president from that state’s election.
Maryland Secretary of State Susan Lee has received emails or letters from about 100 members of the general public “on the general topic of keeping Donald Trump off the ballot,” her office said in a Dec. 6 reply to a Public Information Act request filed by The Baltimore Sun.
The office confirmed in a November email — and again on Wednesday — that the issue “is under consideration” by the secretary.
Trump, a Republican who lost his reelection bid for the presidency in November 2020, is the leading contender for the GOP nomination next year.
In a 4-3 opinion, Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Trump is ineligible under a section of the 14th Amendment barring people who engaged in insurrection from becoming candidates.
In the ruling, which is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, the judges had to first consider whether Trump engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as the 2020 presidential election vote count was being finalized. Then the judges in the majority determined the amendment applied and state law barred him from the ballot.
The Colorado suit was filed in Denver in September by a group of Colorado Republican and independent voters assisted by a watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
According to The Associated Press, dozens of lawsuits challenging Trump’s eligibility on similar grounds have been filed in several states, with no others succeeding so far. Among other cases with significant backing, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in November that Trump could remain on the ballot there because political parties have discretion over their primary ballots. And, AP reported, a Michigan judge has ruled that Congress should decide if Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies to Trump. That ruling was appealed Monday.
Lee, a former state delegate and senator from Montgomery County who was appointed secretary in January by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, was not immediately available Wednesday. Her staff answered questions but declined to discuss the nature of internal deliberations.
In its response to The Sun’s public records request, the office said it could not release five internal documents on grounds that they were privileged.
It did release correspondence from people writing, often passionately, urging Lee not to permit Trump’s name to appear on the ballot. Maryland’s primary is May 14, and the secretary must have the ballot finalized by Jan. 22.
“Trump is an existential threat to our Democracy and must not serve in any elected capacity,” wrote one Marylander on Aug. 29. Names of the writers were redacted.
“We are aware of this issue,” a Lee representative wrote back, thanking the Marylander “for your thoughts on the matter.”