Michigan Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Appeal To Disqualify Trump From GOP Primary

Last updated on January 2nd, 2024 at 11:14 am

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The Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a case that would have blocked Trump from appearing on the Republican primary ballot.

Free Speech For People summed up the court’s reasoning in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:

The Michigan Supreme Court declined to review a ruling of the Michigan Court of Appeals that granted Trump’s request to stop the proceedings at the primary stage, as opposed to the general election. The lower court’s ruling was based on technicalities of Michigan state law regarding when challenges to presidential candidates’ qualifications may be filed. The court held that these challenges may not be filed before the primary–only afterwards.

The Michigan Supreme Court did not address any questions arising under the U.S. Constitution. It did not rule on Trump’s claim that section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment requires federal implementing legislation; it did not rule on Trump’s claim that only Congress can decide presidential candidates’ qualifications; it did not rule on Trump’s claim that the president of the United States is not an “officer of the United States”; and it did not rule on any of various obscure legal theories raised by Trump’s supporters. It simply declined to overrule a lower court ruling that the Michigan state challenge process does not allow challenges to presidential candidates at the primary stage.

The ruling doesn’t mean that Trump can’t be disqualified from the general election ballot in Michigan, but it means t that he can’t be disqualified from the primary ballot due to technicalities in Michigan state law.

One of the lesser discussed elements of the movement to disqualify Trump is that if the former president is convicted of crimes related to the 1/6 attack and plot to overturn the election before the 2o24 general election, there will be waves of court challenges across the country to kick Donald Trump off of the general election ballot.

The odds are that the evidence supporting the disqualification of Trump is only going to grow in 2024. If Trump somehow managed to beat 90 or more criminal felony counts, then there would be no new evidence that could be used to throw him off of the ballot.

The Michigan Supreme Court won’t hear the appeal now, but the odds are high that there will be a case filed to disqualify Trump in the state for the general election, and there won’t be a technicality in place to save the failed former president.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association