Michigan sec. of state says states need ‘clarity’ on Trump ballot eligibility

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, said in comments Saturday that states need to “clarify” former President Trump’s eligibility to vote.

“[W]We need to be clear,” Benson said. said in an interview on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.” “So we can’t have a scenario where voters are uncertain, political parties are uncertain, election officials are uncertain about who should be on the ballot.”

benson It has been submitted be last month’s easy In a Supreme Court case regarding former presidents’ eligibility to vote, she said, “This case is about whether a former president is disqualified from being president, and if so, whether a state is disqualified from being president. It is critical that the court answer the central question of the power to remove him from the primary or general election ballot thereon; ”

“These questions must be fully answered now, because election officials like the Secretary of State need to know whether the former president is eligible to appear on the ballot as a candidate, and voters need to know whether the former president is eligible to appear on the ballot as a candidate. “We are voting because we have the right to know whether the President is qualified to serve as President,” Benson’s summary read.

During oral arguments Thursday, the Supreme Court seemed hesitant to block Trump from appearing on the ballot.

Some of the nation’s highest court justices sounded sympathetic to the former president’s argument that states do not have the power to disqualify federal candidates. Some of them questioned whether the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause applied to the presidency.

“What is a state doing, deciding whether other citizens can vote for the president?” Justice Elena Kagan asked.

Chief Justice John Roberts also noted that if the court disqualifies President Trump, other states could move to remove Democratic candidates from the ballot, which he called a “dreadful outcome.” Mentioned.