The Supreme Court to the Ballot Rescue Trying to ban opposition-party candidates from the ballot will spreads unless the Justices stop it.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-supreme-court-to-the-ballot-rescue-f887f84f?mod=opinion_lead_pos3
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear Donald Trump’s appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to ban him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, and just in time too. The political malpractice of using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to ban opposition candidates is spreading.
In Pennsylvania, progressive activist Gene Stilp is suing to have incumbent Republican Congressman Scott Perry stripped from the state’s primary ballot. Mr. Stilp is a Democrat who lives in Mr. Perry’s 10th Congressional district and lost a race for Congress in 2012.
Mr. Stilp is asking the Pennsylvania courts to declare that the Pennsylvania secretary of state can ban Mr. Perry from the ballot. Mr. Perry objected to the certification of the election results on Jan. 6, but then so have Democrats in other elections. Democrats in Congress have introduced bills to banish other Members from the ballot in the next election.
When Colorado and Maine moved to strip Mr. Trump from their own ballots, we warned that it would lead to more such efforts. Democrats are piling on now because of the Jan. 6 riot. But if this ballot banishment stands, Republicans won’t be the only targets.
It’s a shame the Supreme Court has been dragged into the election, but it has never ruled definitively on Section 3 disqualification. This makes it all the more welcome that the Justices will hear the Colorado case on a relatively rapid timeline. The Court set oral argument for Feb. 8, which means that if the Justices are more or less united they could issue a ruling before the presidential primaries are over.
There are several grounds the Court could use to overturn Colorado, including that the language of Section 3 simply doesn’t apply to the President. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey has written as much on our pages. The good news is we will soon get a ruling.
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