Minnesota’s high court dismissed a lawsuit that attempted to keep Donald Trump from being on the 2024 primary ballot, saying he had participated in an insurrection that bars him from holding the office.
The Minnesota supreme court said the issue itself is ripe for review, but not in the primary election, where political parties select their nominees for the general election.
“Although the secretary of State and other election officials administer the mechanics of the election, this is an internal party election to serve internal party purposes, and winning the presidential nomination primary does not place the person on the general election ballot as a candidate for president of the United States,” the court’s opinion reads.
The Minnesota court heard arguments on 2 November and swiftly issued a brief order Wednesday to allow election officials to move forward with preparations.
Nothing in Minnesota law prohibits a political party from putting a candidate in their presidential primary who is ineligible to hold the office, so there is no error about to occur by allowing Trump’s name to appear on the ballot here.
But the court left open the possibility for the plaintiffs to file similar claims as they relate to the general election, where such rules do exist.
The lawsuit, brought by voters and a left-leaning group called Free Speech for People, claimed a clause in the 14th amendment makes it illegal for Trump to hold office because he was an “officer of the United States” who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country.
It’s one of several similar suits moving in the states to try to bar Trump from the ballot. One of the cases, though it’s not clear which one, is expected to end up before the US supreme court.
The plaintiffs will need to show how the rarely-used piece of law, stemming from the reconstruction era, applies to Trump and his actions, and that he participated in insurrection or rebellion.
