A senator urged the passage of a measure that would target states over recent decisions to block President Trump.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) announced Thursday he will introduce a measure to restrict federal funds to states that block candidates’ ballot access as soon as Congress returns to session early next year, after Maine’s secretary of state decided to block former President Donald Trump from the ballot.
The senator drafted the legislation, the Constitutional Election Integrity Act, in response to a similar decision that was made by the Colorado Supreme Court last week to bar the former president from appearing on the Colorado ballot.
“Maine’s Democrat Secretary of State just removed Trump from the ballot,” he wrote on X on Thursday, referring to the decision from Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. “This is an egregious abuse of power and why I will be introducing the Constitutional Election Integrity Act as soon as Congress returns to session to stop these partisan officials and ensure any constitutional challenge is only decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Maine’s Democrat Secretary of State just removed Trump from the ballot. This is an egregious abuse of power and why I will be introducing the Constitutional Election Integrity Act as soon as Congress returns to session to stop these partisan officials and ensure any… https://t.co/evVu6bSv0H
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) December 29, 2023
The measure would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to bar federal funds for election administration for states that use the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment for “political purposes” and for “other purposes,” according to text of the bill.
It would also clarify that only the U.S. Supreme Court possesses the “sole jurisdiction” to make decisions on 14th Amendment cases.
“Regardless of whether you support or oppose former President Donald Trump, it is outrageous to see left-wing activists make a mockery of our political system by scheming with partisan state officials and pressuring judges to remove him from the ballot,” Mr. Tillis said in a news release after the Colorado court’s ruling.
“American voters, not partisan activists, should decide who we elect as our President,“ Tillis continued. ”The Constitutional Election Integrity Act would put any constitutional challenges in the sole place they belong: the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The Colorado case appears likely to reach the Supreme Court, after Republicans filed an appeal with the high court against the Colorado judges’ decision. But similar cases have already made their way through multiple courts in several other states, challenging President Trump’s right to run for office under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Section 3.
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