Former President Donald Trump has been hit with another lawsuit attempting to keep him off of ballots, this time in Minnesota.
This latest 14th Amendment lawsuit was filed by the liberal organization Free Speech For People.
“Donald J. Trump, through his words and actions, after swearing an oath as an officer of the United States to support the Constitution, engaged in insurrection or rebellion … as defined by Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the lawsuit states. “He is disqualified from holding the presidency or any other office under the United States unless and until Congress provides him relief.”
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was created to keep Confederate leaders off the ballot after the Civil War. It has only been used once since 1919, when Victor Berger of Wisconsin was barred from being seated because he was a socialist. It states that someone cannot hold office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the [U.S.], or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Free Speech For People has partnered with an organization called Mi Familia Vota Education Fund on a project to urge Secretaries of State and chief election officials across the country to keep Trump off ballots, according to the group’s website.
The organization describes itself as a “catalyzing leader in the country challenging big money in politics, confronting corruption in government, fighting for free and fair elections, and advancing a new jurisprudence grounded in the promises of political equality and democratic self-government.”
According to a report from Axios, “Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon has previously said it’s up to the courts, not his office, to decide whether the former president is eligible for the state’s ballot.”
John Anthony Castro, a write-in Republican presidential candidate from Texas, filed a lawsuit attempting to keep Trump off the ballot in Oklahoma earlier this week. He also cited Section 3 in his complaint.
Another similar lawsuit was filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW), a Washington D.C.-based liberal group, attempting to keep Trump off the ballot in Colorado.
“Donald Trump tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election,” states the lawsuit filed on Sept. 6. “Before the election, he made plans to cast doubt on and undermine confidence in our nation’s election infrastructure. After the election, he knowingly sought to subvert our Constitution and system of elections through a sustained campaign of lies.”
