“I will be asking the attorney general’s office for their input,” Secretary of State David Scanlan told the Globe. “And ultimately whatever is decided is probably going to require some judicial input.”
A debate among constitutional scholars over former president Donald Trump’s eligibility for the 2024 presidential race has reverberated through the public consciousness in recent weeks and reached the ears of New Hampshire’s top election official.
Secretary of State David Scanlan, who will oversee the first-in-the-nation presidential primary in just five months, said he’s received several letters lately that urge him to take action based on a legal theory that claims the Constitution empowers him to block Trump from the ballot.
Scanlan, a Republican, said he’s listening and will seek legal advice to ensure that his team thoroughly understands the arguments at play.
The NH AG, John Formella, seems like a party man. I would be surprised if he would agree with this argument, especially in the administration of Chris “I’m a Trump guy through and through” Sununu.
Be especially wary of Republicans who are pushing this “ineligible even without judicial input” argument. Many of them would love to rid themselves of the Trump albatross, but even more, would LOOOOVE the idea of simply declaring people ineligible with no oversight.
To most people, Trump’s involvement in Jan 6 is obvious, but without a conviction, the door is wide open for people like DeSantis and his lackies to just start erasing names off the contender list with the thinnest of justifications. “Oh, Biden supports the Paris Climate Accords. He doesn’t believe in American sovereignty, which is tantamount to treason, therefore he won’t be on the Florida ballot in 2024.”
Republicans will do it now anyway. Their only regret at this point is that they hadn’t thought of it before. The GOP has become so baldfaced uncouth, they don’t care anymore if their dirty tricks are performed in broad daylight. Watch trump has taught them there is (so far) little to no repercussions for breaking “tradition” or “precedence”.
This is an excellent point and why we should allow some kind of process. I’m not sure what that process should be, but something that can’t be easily abused by Republicans.