On January 30, the Colorado voters who had objected to Donald Trump’s ballot position filed this brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The Colorado voters oppose the request of the Colorado Secretary of State to have her own participation in the oral argument set for February 8.
As things stand now, Trump’s attorneys have 30 minutes, and the objectors have 30 minutes. The Secretary of State wants her attorneys to be able to speak for 15 minutes.
On January 30, the Illinois State Board of Elections voted unanimously to keep former President Donald Trump on the ballot. The Board has four Democrats and four Republicans. The Board said it does not feel it has the authority to reject a candidate from a primary ballot if the objection is based on an interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, Section Three. The objectors say they will now file a lawsuit in state court to keep Trump off.
On January 30, President Joe Biden said “It’s fine” if former President Donald Trump is allowed on all ballots in 2024. See this story.
This is the second time Biden has made a statement in favor of ballot access. On October 2, 2023, he had said that No Labels has a right to be on the ballot.
On January 29, Justice Frank M. Gaziano of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected a challenge to the Trump ballot listing in the Massachusetts Republican presidential primary. On January 30, the objectors asked the full court to overrule Gaziano’s opinion.
On January 30, Tennessee filed its brief in Darnell v Hargett, m.d., 3:23cv-1266. This is the Libertarian Party case that challenges the Tennessee petition requirement for a group to become a qualified party. Here is the state’s brief. It doesn’t even mention the Sixth Circuit decision Graveline v Benson, 992 F.3d 524 (2021), in which Michigan’s petition requirement of 30,000 signatures for a statewide independent candidate was struck down, on the grounds that it was obviously more difficult than necessary for any state interest, because it had only been used twice since it was created in 1988.
Tennessee is also in the Sixth Circuit, and Tennessee’s party petition hasn’t been used since 1968. It requires 43,498 signatures.
