Constitutional law, political perspective, and the practicalities of printing came to a sudden collision in the Massachusetts State Library, when the nation’s longest serving secretary of state made it very clear that former President Donald Trump should appear on his state’s Republican primary ballot, regardless of any alleged participation in insurrection.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin, on Tuesday, added an envelope containing a folded white card marked only with the name “Donald J. Trump” to a gold-painted metal-mesh basket, where it joined similar card-carrying envelopes, each containing the name of another of six Republican presidential candidates.
Galvin spun the basket by hand several times, both clockwise and counter, before drawing a single envelope. It’s fair to note the sealed envelopes were too big to receive a genuine shuffle.
“Chris Christie,” Galvin said, reading the first card shortly after 11 a.m.
Next drawn, Christian radio host Ryan Binkley, who Galvin seemed unfamiliar with but said was offered by the MassGOP as a ballot-worthy candidate for the presidency. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy was next, followed by former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Trump, the 45th President of the United States was drawn fifth, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Despite his position in the polls, where he has held a majority of party support since announcing his White House candidacy late in 2022, Trump’s appearance on any statewide primary ballot is not a foregone conclusion, after efforts in several states to see him removed from consideration have gained national attention.
The Colorado Supreme Court and Maine’s Secretary of State have both rule d that Trump’s actions, or lack thereof, on January 6, 2021 — when a mob waving flags bearing his name sacked the U.S. Capitol and for the first time in U.S. history interrupted the peaceful transfer of power between presidential administrations — amount to his supporting or aiding of an insurrection against the U.S. Government.
According to Section Three of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, if you do an insurrection you render yourself ineligible to hold most political offices in the U.S.
But whether or not that’s what Trump did, or whether Section Three applies to the Office of the Presidency, is a question that will ultimately be decided by the courts, Galvin said.
“I hope that this will lead to a decisive decision by the United States Supreme Court, because ultimately it’s only the United States Supreme Court that can rule on the issue of eligibility,” he said.
In the interim, while the primaries have yet to be held, it’s up to the political parties to decide who they offer as a candidate in November, Galvin said. If the Democratic Party decided to present former Presidents Barack Obama or Bill Clinton, both ineligible due to term limits, or Republicans wanted to present former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, ineligible due to his birth as a citizen of Austria, Galvin said he would be required to add them to the ballot for voters to consider.
“Elections and primaries are about voters. They’re not about candidates, they’re not about offices. They’re about voters. It’s the opportunity to make a decision the voters have. We’re not going to deprive voters of the right to cast a ballot. A lot of people have said this is about defending democracy. And as a citizen, I might agree with that. But I think the best way to defend democracy is to participate in democracy. And that opportunity is here for everyone in Massachusetts,” Galvin said.
Legal challenges trying to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot, which Galvin says his office has already been subject to, have very little time left to offer disagreement with the secretary’s interpretation of the constitution. The ballots must, by law, be available in a matter of weeks, all arguments over the wording of the 14th Amendment and the nature of events on Jan. 6th aside.
“We have to have ballots available by January 20th for overseas and military. This is a federal requirement,” he said. “We are under great pressure now to get this out and get this done.”
The ballots will head to the printer “almost immediately,” Galvin said.
Printing considerations, Galvin guessed, and their own stated intentions to stay their decisions pending expected appeals to the high court, will likely force Colorado and Maine to offer Trump as an option on primary ballots, Galvin said.
President Joe Biden was drawn second for the state’s Democratic ballot, behind U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and ahead of author Marianne Williamson, both of whom Galvin said he chose to add to the ballot after the state party offered just Biden.
Along with 15 other states, Massachusetts will hold its party primaries on March 5, or “Super Tuesday.”
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