Washington — The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal from a group of voters in the state who challenged former President Donald Trump’s candidacy for the presidency under the Constitution’s “insurrection clause.”
In a brief order, the state high court denied a request from four voters to review a Michigan Court of Appeals decision that allowed Trump to remain on the Republican presidential primary ballot. The Michigan Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, said it is “not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this court.” The order was not signed, and a vote count was not noted.
One justice, Elizabeth Welch, dissented and wrote the only legal issue properly before the state supreme court is whether the lower courts erred in finding the Michigan secretary of state lacks the authority to exclude Trump’s name from the presidential primary ballot. Welch wrote that she agrees with the Court of Appeals that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson must place Trump on the primary ballot regardless of whether he is disqualified from holding office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, known as the “insurrection clause.”
Under Michigan law, Welch wrote, “the secretary of state is not legally required to confirm the eligibility of potential presidential primary candidates. She lacks the legal authority to remove a legally ineligible candidate from the ballot once their name has been put forward by a political party in compliance with the statutes governing primary elections.”
The decision from Michigan’s top court comes one week after the Colorado Supreme Court found that Trump is disqualified from holding office under the Constitution’s “insurrection clause.” Though the Colorado high court ordered Trump’s name to be kept off the state’s presidential primary ballot, it paused its decision until Jan. 4 to allow him time to appeal.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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