Hearing held on new complaint aimed at removing Trump from New Hampshire ballot – WMUR Manchester
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A hearing was held Wednesday in federal court over a new lawsuit aimed at keeping former President Donald Trump off the ballot in New Hampshire.
Little-known Republican candidate John Anthony Castro has filed another lawsuit in federal court arguing that Trump is disqualified from being on the ballot because of the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Castro states in his lawsuit that Trump’s name on the ballot hurts his chances, but Trump’s attorney argue that Castro’s campaign is nonexistent.
According to the evidence presented Wednesday, Castro has less than $700 in campaign donations. It was unclear how much money his campaign has spent in total, but he said it was a self-funded campaign.
Castro called two witnesses to the stand who were campaign volunteers, paid staff at his business and family members. They spent two days campaigning for him – one day in New Hampshire and one day in Arizona.
While in New Hampshire, they said they door-knocked in a neighborhood, asking 12 people to place yard signs at their house. All said no. The witnesses testified they were unsure if they were registered Republican voters.
They said they switched up their plans and started to put the signs out in vacant lots, placing a total of 12-15 signs around New Hampshire.
The defense called a political campaign expert to the stand who testified that Castro’s chances are nearly impossible.
Castro said he decided to refile the lawsuit because his first one was dismissed because he didn’t show how he had been campaigning to voters. He said he wanted to show that he had been campaigning and prefers to campaign mostly on social media rather than traditional avenues.
“It’s always good to go door-to-door to show that grassroots activity, but for the most part, in a lot of campaigns, it’s just for show,” Castro said. “The real campaigning is done with the data and digital ads.”
An attorney representing the New Hampshire secretary of the state’s office said it’s too late to take Trump’s name off the ballots, as they have already been printed and, in some cases, mailed to voters. Castro said he wants votes for Trump to not be counted.
He said he plans to take his litigation to the Supreme Court.
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