Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is warning that the Supreme Court’s decision in the Trump ballot dispute could lead to state election officials abusing their authority.
The high court’s ruling allows states to disqualify those running for state or local, but not federal, office, Mr. LaRose wrote in an op-ed for Cincinnati.com. That, he argued, opens the door for states to abuse their ability to keep candidates off their ballots.
“This means any secretary of state with the duty to grant ballot access can block a state or local candidate alleged to have violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” he wrote.
“Of course, once you create a path, some will want to go down it. Others will say it’s best to leave it alone and argue that Ohio has no statutory process for denying ballot access based on a Section 3 violation. Either way, we should consider ourselves warned, and our legislators should decide how best to prevent this arcane constitutional provision from future abuse.”
Mr. LaRose noted that election officials have already kept a man off the ballot in New Mexico.
Couy Griffin, who founded Cowboys for Trump, was convicted of trespassing at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, for his involvement in the mob attack. He was sentenced to time served of 14 days.
A judge removed him from holding office as county commissioner and barred him from holding any office in the future. He appealed to the Supreme Court, but the justices declined to hear his case.
Last month, the high court unanimously kept former President Donald Trump on the ballot after a group of Colorado voters petitioned to have him removed, arguing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars anyone who participated in an insurrection from holding office.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment reads: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
The justices did not address whether Mr. Trump was part of an insurrection but ruled on who could enforce such a question.
The court ruled that Colorado’s high court erred when it deleted Mr. Trump’s name from the state’s Republican primary ballot. The majority of the court went further, ruling that only Congress can enforce the Constitution’s insurrection language through laws.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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