Will Donald Trump be removed from ballot in Pa.? Top election official says no authority to do it
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The head of Pennsylvania's Department of State, which oversees elections, says he has no power to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot in November's presidential election.
"Pennsylvania's Election Code does not give me, as Secretary of the Commonwealth, the authority to reject a nomination petition on the grounds that a potential candidate does not meet an office's eligibility criteria," Secretary Al Schmidt said in a statement to CBS News Philadelphia. "In Pennsylvania, that is a question that can be answered only by the courts."
Schmidt's statement comes on the heels of two states removing Trump from their ballots.
On Dec. 19, the Colorado Supreme Court removed Trump from the state's ballot, citing the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A week later, Maine's Secretary of State made the same move.
The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to take up the Colorado decision.
Our digital team posed this question to the Secretaries of State in New Jersey and Delaware as well. A spokesperson for New Jersey's Secretary of State and Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way declined to comment. We're awaiting comment from Delaware.
The deadline for candidates to file a presidential ballot petition in New Jersey is March 25, 2024.
Trump is the easy frontrunner to reclaim the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. December polling from Quinnipiac University puts the former president head-and-shoulders above the rest of the pack, garnering 67% of support from Republicans, to just 11% for Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.
But as campaigns ramp up in 2024, Trump will also have to keep his eye on the courts. He became the first president in American history to be indicted and now faces at least four cases. Federal prosecutors have charged him with multiple felonies for the mishandling of classified documents. Special Counsel Jack Smith also charged Trump with trying to disrupt the transfer of power to President Joe Biden.
In Georgia, Trump and 18 allies were charged with multiple felonies for alleged election interference. And in New York, he's battling nearly three dozen felony counts over alleged hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The question is: how far will any of these cases be along before we get to the November election? Trump has a fervent base, but the same Quinnipiac Poll found his favorability at just 41%. Could more legal trouble steer voters away from the controversial figure?