Legal challenge filed to remove Trump from Massachusetts presidential ballot
BOSTON - A civil rights group and local law firm are filing a legal challenge with Massachusetts election officials that calls for former President Donald Trump to be removed from the state's ballots.
Free Speech For People and lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan, a former candidate for attorney general in Massachusetts, say Trump should be disqualified for violating a cause in the Constitution that says anyone who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" can't hold the office.
The Colorado Supreme Court and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows both decided Trump should be removed from their states' respective ballots because of his conduct surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump is appealing both decisions.
"Trump's involvement in the violent attack on Congress to prevent the certification of democratic election results clearly disqualifies him from holding any future public office," Free Speech For People said in a statement.
The Massachusetts Republican Party said in a statement that Trump should remain on the ballot.
"We believe that disqualification of a presidential candidate through legal maneuverings sets a dangerous precedent for democracy," the MassGOP said in a statement.
Trump's campaign has called efforts to keep him off the ballot "un-American" and denies that the former president took part in an insurrection.
Will Donald Trump be on the ballot in Massachusetts?
Earlier this week, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin held a random drawing to determine the presidential primary ballot order in Massachusetts. Trump was listed among the Republican candidates.
Galvin told reporters that he hopes to see a "decisive decision" from the U.S. Supreme Court concerning Trump's ballot eligibility, according to the State House News Service. He also said Trump could still win the Republican primary as a write-in candidate, even without his name on the ballot.
"I think the best way to defend democracy is to participate in democracy," Galvin said. "And that opportunity's here for everyone in Massachusetts."
