A state elections expert said that the New York State Board of Elections will decide whether Donald Trump appears on the primary ballot for president on April 2, but the battle to remove him through the board has many obstacles Democrats may not realize.
The Board of Elections has ministerial status. They wouldn’t have the authority to judge such things as 14th Amendment Section 3 and if someone filed a fraudulent petition. This is not something that the board can decide. It would have to be decided in court,” New York Republican Election Attorney Joseph Burns told Fox News Digital.
New York State Board of Elections will decide on February 6 if Trump can be on the ballot. Democrats from the New York City Council, state legislature and the New York City Council asked the board to remove Trump because they claimed he had sparked a rebellion on January 6, 2021 when his supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol.
Raymond J. Riley III is the Republican co-executive Director of the State Board. He issued a Monday statement that “the presidential filing period is currently ongoing.” A “meeting has been scheduled for the 6th, where the Republican commissioners will determine on ballot access.”
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Former president Trump leaves the courtroom at his civil fraud trial in New York State Supreme Court, Nov. 6, 2023. . (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images).
Democrats are fighting to remove Trump from the state ballots in several states. They claim that Trump’s actions in 2021 violated a clause of The 14th Amendment which prohibits anyone from holding a political office if they “engaged in rebellion or insurrection” against the Constitution.
In New York however, Burns stated that Democrats face an even greater uphill battle in arguing Trump should not be on the ballot, before even bringing up the 14th Amendment argument.
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Burns explained that there are three different ways for candidates to get on the New York primary ballot. They can either prove they are eligible for the presidential primary matching funds, file a petition with 5,000 signatures, or 5% of Republican voters enrolled in the state, or claim a candidate as a well-known and recognized person nationally.
Burns stated that it is easier to simply say “I am a nationally recognized candidate”, especially if a former President leads the polls.
It is expected that the New York State Board of Elections will decide whether Donald Trump’s name will appear on April 2nd’s primary ballot.
“But the commissioners will only look at that when they decide whether Trump or anyone else is a nationally-known candidate. Burns stated that it was not part of the requirements to judge the candidates’ qualifications, regardless of whether they were judging them under the 14th Amendment.
Burns stated that the New York Republican primary election laws only allow Republican commissioners to decide whether a presidential candidate is entitled to appear on the primary ballot because they are nationally known.
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“I don’t believe they realize that the only two Republican commissioners of the State Board of Elections are the ones who decide whether Trump is on the ballot or not. This is how the law was written. Burns: “The Democratic commissioners would not have any say on that.”
The law states that: “Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the law, a candidate’s request to appear on a presidential primary ballot for a major party will be decided solely on a joint recommendation from the commissioners appointed by such party on its recommendation or by the legislative leaders of said party. No other commissioners shall participate in this determination.”
Burns noted that this is a departure from the way in which the board of elections operates when it’s evenly divided, since both Republican and Democrat Commissioners must usually agree before moving forward with a plan or agenda.
He said that Democrats could not remove Trump by going to the New York State Board of Elections. They would need to take the matter to court.
“It’d have to be done at court, where you can actually present evidence and present the case.” He said that only a few people would have the right to appear in court.
Burns said that it was “quite funny” to see letters from Democrat legislators to the board calling for Trump to be removed because he doesn’t believe the Democrats are entitled to file an objection or a lawsuit in order to remove Trump.
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The New York State Capitol
Standing is generally limited to those who have filed objections against opposing candidates. I find it difficult to believe that Trump’s opponents would take him to court in order to remove him from the ballot. “Any potential objector must be a member of the party,” he said.
Jason Weingartner told Gothamist this week that Democrats will need to go to court because the board is ” not an actual court of law.”
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He said, “They are not a court.” “They’re not in a place to decide whether someone is an insurrectionist or not.” This is something that should be done by a judge with a factual finding. They are not.
N.Y. GOP spokesperson David Laska commented to Fox News Digital in a way that “nobody is fooled” about the Democrats’ plan for removing Trump.
The same Democrats who cling to their pearls and rant about the supposed death of democracy now try to remove members of the opposing party from the ballot rather than letting the voters decide. Laska stated that “no one is fooled”.
Last week, Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an overturn of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling. He argued that “the Colorado Supreme Court had no authority to deny him” a place on Colorado’s ballot. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images).
Colorado is the most notable state that has been involved in legal battles to remove Trump from the ballot. Colorado Supreme Court barred Trump’s name from the ballot in a ruling last month. Justices wrote in that Trump had “incited and encouraged the use of violence” to prevent a peaceful transfer of power in 2021 after the presidential election of 2020.
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Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court last week to overturn Colorado Supreme Court’s decision, arguing that “the Colorado Supreme Court has no power to deny” his place on the ballot in the state. The case will be heard by the high court next month.
Maine also banned Trump, which the former President is appealing to state court. Other states, such as Illinois and Massachusetts, are working on removing Trump’s name from the ballot.
The U.S. Supreme Court. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File)
Burns stated that the New York issue may be settled once the Supreme Court rules on Colorado case.
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He said that it was possible for the Supreme Court to hear arguments in early february before anyone in New York sought to remove Trump from the ballot.