Ross: Georgia Secretary of State says he can’t take Trump off the ballot
Sep 7, 2023, 8:03 AM | Updated: Sep 8, 2023, 10:18 am
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 25: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks to the media about early voting progress on October 25, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Early voting is taking place across the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections on November 8. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
(Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
Writing in the , Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensburger put the kibosh on this idea of disqualifying Donald Trump under the 14th Amendment.
I realize that if you鈥檙e anti-Trump, this idea is very tempting, even obvious, because the 14th Amendment states that a public official is ineligible for public office if he has 鈥渆ngaged in insurrection or rebellion against鈥� America.
More from Dave Ross: The Mariners basically built my deck for me
But there are two big problems with this idea. Number one, Jack Smith鈥檚 indictment does not charge Trump with organizing or even inciting the attack on the Capitol; and number two, the Constitution is unclear on how the 14th Amendment is to be enforced. There is an assumption it will enforce itself, as happens with the other constitutional qualifications of being 35 years old and born in the US.
Trump himself tried to kick Barack Obama off the ballot by challenging his birth certificate. Didn鈥檛 work.
And now you have Brad Raffensburger dismissing the disqualification idea, which is significant because he, of course, was at Ground Zero in Trump鈥檚 attempt to steal the election.
Here鈥檚 what he wrote: 鈥淔or a secretary of state to remove a candidate would only reinforce the grievances of those who see the system as rigged and corrupt.鈥�
鈥淚nvoking the 14th Amendment,鈥� he said, 鈥渋s merely the newest way of attempting to short-circuit the ballot box.鈥�
To which I would add, there鈥檚 really no established way to enforce the 14th Amendment anyway. I talked about this last month with former State Attorney General Rob McKenna:
“That is a question that I think is going to have to be decided by the courts. Because the fact is this language in the Constitution has not been tested in court. It lay dormant for 150 years until January 6, 2021, and I think the courts are going to have to weigh in and then decide what constitutes insurrection or rebellion,” McKenna said. “What constitutes aid or comfort? I don’t think leaving these decisions to the Secretaries of State is a realistic option.”
So, what we need is a solid test case. How about this: How about if one of the Proud Boys announces his candidacy? Even better, a Proud Boy who attacked the Capitol and is under 35 years old and was born in a foreign country.
Would states just put him on the ballot and let the voters decide?
That鈥檚 what Raffensberger is saying.
And I agree with him, democracy requires trusting the voters unconditionally. It鈥檚 intended to prevent endless revolutions by forcing the government to bend to our collective will.
That means accepting that voters have the right to choose anyone they want, be they saints or sleazeballs, competent or corrupt, and then to take the possible consequences.
And history shows us that among those possible consequences is that the majority can vote to end the rule of the majority!
And if that worries you, well, think about that as you鈥檙e deciding whether to make use of your ballot or throw it away. Which, in the 2020 election, is exactly what 775,977 qualified Washington voters did.
Listen to Seattle鈥檚 Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O鈥橞rien weekday mornings from 5 鈥� 9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.
