A Massachusetts ballot panel has rejected a challenge to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission dismissed the case on procedural grounds, stating that the panel did not have the jurisdiction to weigh in on the matter. This is a significant victory for Trump, who is facing several attempts from multiple states to remove him from the ballot under a section of the 14th Amendment disqualifying those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office.
Commissioners met in Boston briefly last week to hear procedural questions and arguments. The commission is an independent and bipartisan panel, with the chairman affiliating as a Republican and the other two members being Democrats. They are selected by the state’s governor.
During the arguments, Trump’s lawyers argued for the panel to dismiss the challenge, hoping for a similar outcome to Michigan, Minnesota, and other states where the initiative to remove the former president failed.
“There is nothing in the case law or the statutes that the commission is required to follow that says qualification to be on a ballot is a precondition to appear on the ballot,” Trump lawyer Marc Salinas said, according to CNN.
However, the challengers argued it is within the commission’s job description to hear challenges to candidate legitimacy.
“We believe that Mr. Trump’s candidacy for this office and placement on the Massachusetts ballot violates the Constitution, so we are challenging the constitutionality,” said Shannon Liss-Riordan, an attorney for the challengers, via CNN. “It is the job of this commission to hear objections to the legality of placement of candidates on the ballot.”
The commission determined it had jurisdiction over objections to nominees, not candidates.
“At this point, there are no nominees and instead only candidates seeking a nomination,” the commissioners wrote in their ruling.
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Colorado and Maine have removed the former president from the 2024 ballot, but those decisions are paused while the U.S. Supreme Court considers Trump’s appeal of the Colorado case.
Massachusetts’s ballot decision, like others coming out of the commission, can be appealed in the state courts.