The trial in Minnesota Supreme Court regarding the attempt to prevent former President Donald Trump from appearing on the 2024 ballot began on Thursday. A similar lawsuit is concurrently progressing in Colorado.
Both lawsuits, filed in Minnesota and Colorado, argue that Trump’s actions leading up to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot disqualify him from the 2024 ballot. They claim that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits individuals who have participated in insurrection or rebellion from holding office after taking an oath to support and defend the Constitution.
A group of Minnesota voters, represented by the election reform organization Free Speech for People, initiated the lawsuit in September to remove Trump from the state ballot based on the 14th Amendment. The plaintiffs include former Minnesota Secretary of State Joan Growe and former state Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson.
In the Minnesota case, the petitioners are requesting the state’s highest court to disqualify Trump from appearing on the ballot in the upcoming March presidential primary. The lawsuit does not directly name Trump as a defendant but instead targets Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat who has previously rejected demands from Free Speech for People to take action. Simon has argued that his office lacks the authority to determine a candidate’s eligibility for office.
“In the case of presidential candidates, the major political parties will submit the candidates’ names to our office for the Presidential Nomination Primary by January 2, 2024. Unless a court states otherwise, those names will appear on the ballot for the March 5, 2024 contest,” stated Simon in a September statement.
Ron Fein, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs and legal director at Free Speech for People, asserted that this legal action was necessary due to Trump’s involvement in an insurrection that attacked the U.S. Capitol. Fein emphasized that Trump’s actions threatened the assassination of Vice President and congressional leaders as well as disrupted the peaceful transfer of power – an unprecedented event in American history.
“Trump is prohibited by law from running for office, and election officials must uphold this constitutional mandate,” added Fein.
During the opening arguments, Fein argued that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is “self-executing,” obligating the court to interpret and enforce the Constitution. He contended that Minnesota law grants the court the authority to regulate ballot access and determine candidates’ eligibility.
Fein also highlighted Trump’s constitutional commitment to support the U.S. as a presidential officer: “No party has disputed that the presidency is an office under the United States. If Trump claims that he was not an officer, which would imply an office without an officer, and if he claims that his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution was not an oath to support the Constitution, these arguments ridicule Section 3 and the constitutional democracy it aims to protect.”
Fein requested the court to promptly schedule an evidentiary hearing.
State Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hartshorn, representing Secretary of State Simon, stated that Simon is not expressing a stance on the merits of the case but believes it is ready for adjudication.
Attorney Nicholas Nelson, representing Trump, argued during the opening arguments that there is no more political question in the constitutional order than determining the president. Nelson contended that such decisions should not be made by the judiciary but elsewhere.
Nelson also urged the court to dismiss the petitioners’ request for an evidentiary hearing, stating, “By simply reading the allegations of the petition and reviewing the public record, it is evident that this does not amount to an insurrection – particularly, Trump’s involvement is not considered insurrectionary.”
Reid LeBeau, attorney for the Minnesota Republican Party, argued that neither Congress nor the states have defined what or who can determine the legal definition of “insurrection or rebellion.”
Trump’s campaign did not provide an immediate response to NBC News’ request for comment on the Minnesota trial. The former president, who continues to falsely claim victory in the 2020 election, dismissed efforts to exclude him from the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment as “nonsense” and “election interference.”
The Minnesota lawsuit was filed subsequent to another lawsuit in Colorado, where voters supported by the left-leaning government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sought to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot. The trial for the Colorado case commenced earlier this week.
Similar legal challenges invoking the 14th Amendment provision have been filed in other states, including New Hampshire, Arizona, and Michigan.
CORRECTION (Nov. 2, 2023, 2:21 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misspelled the name of a former Minnesota secretary of state. She is Joan Growe, not Grove.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.
