Attempt to remove Trump's name from Mass. primary ballot rejected again – WCVB Boston
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A petition seeking to remove former President Donald Trump’s name from the Massachusetts Republican ballot has been denied by a Massachusetts Supreme Court judge.
Nine Massachusetts voters filed objections with the State Ballot Law Commission last week, saying Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on the ballot under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment because, they say, he committed insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
The commission rejected the attempt to remove Trump’s name, saying it “does not have jurisdiction over the matters presented.”
Justice Frank Gaziano denied the petition, saying the issue only becomes “ripe” to address when and if Trump is the Republican nominee.
“The petitioners’ objections have, in essence, come too soon. If there is any question whether the commission has the authority or jurisdiction to consider the petitioners’ objections regarding Trump’s eligibility to appear on the general election ballot, that question will not become ripe until, and if, he is selected as his party’s nominee for president,” Gaziano wrote.
A lawyer for the voters who’ve filed the objection said the commission did indeed have the power to determine if Trump should be on the ballot. But a lawyer for Trump said they do not, at least not at this point. He said the state Republican Party can put anyone it wants on the primary ballot.
Two other states — Colorado and Maine — have already disqualified Trump from their primaries on similar grounds. The U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear oral arguments in the Colorado case on Feb. 8.
Massachusetts’ presidential primary is scheduled for March 5.
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