Laurence Tribe described how Trump can be excluded from ballot

[LetMyPeopleVote]

21. This issue is going to get before the SCOTUS

I read the law review article from the two members of the Federalist Society. See https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4532751 This is an amazing law review article and is dense reading. The authors conclude that TFG is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

I downloaded the article in pdf and so some of the formatting will be strange.

The most politically explosive application of Section Three to the events of January 6, is at the same time the most straightforward. In our view, on the basis of the public record, former President Donald J. Trump is constitutionally disqualified from again being President (or holding any other covered office) because of his role in the attempted overthrow of the 2020 election and the events leading to the January 6 attack.

The case for disqualification is strong. There is abundant evidence that Trump deliberately set out to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election result, calling it “stolen” and “rigged”;421 that Trump (with the assistance of others) pursued numerous schemes to effectuate this objective; that among these were efforts to alter the vote counts of several states by force, by fraud, or by intended intimidation of state election officials,422 to pressure or persuade state legislatures and/or courts unlawfully to overturn state election results,423 to assemble and induce others to submit bogus slates of competing state electors,424 to persuade or pressure Congress to refuse to count electors’ votes submitted by several states,425 and finally, to pressure the Vice President unconstitutionally to overturn state election results in his role of presiding over the counting of electors’ votes.426....

The bottom line is that Donald Trump both “engaged in” “insurrection or rebellion” and gave “aid or comfort” to others engaging in such conduct, within the original meaning of those terms as employed in Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. If the public record is accurate, the case is not even close. He is no longer eligible to the office of Presidency, or any other state or federal office covered by the Constitution. All who are committed to the Constitution should take note and say so.

The issue to me was how to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The authors make the point that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is self executing but it still must be enforced. Among the mechanisms discussed is the concept of a secretary of state disqualifying TFG from the 2024 election.

Anybody who seeks office will at some point need to show that they are entitled to hold that office. At every point that this occurs, Section Three governs. So, for instance, state or local election boards, and state Secretaries of State, may possess statelaw authority to make at least initial determinations as to eligibility of candidates for elected office in that state or representing that state in Congress (as authorized by Article I, section 4 of the Constitution)—and, thus, whether or not such candidates shall be placed on a primary or general election ballot.65 Those state bodies or officers are obliged, often by oath—sometimes by oath mandated by the U.S. Constitution—to act consistently with the requirements of the Constitution in the discharge of their duties.66 Accordingly, such state actors can and must apply Section Three’s disqualification in carrying out their state-law responsibilities—just as they possess the authority and duty to comply with and enforce the Constitution’s other qualificationfor-office requirements......

Finally, what about the top of the ticket? What if the President or a presidential candidate (or likewise for Vice President) is constitutionally disqualified?104 Who has the power and duty to enforce Section Three’s legal prohibition? Again, the answer depends on whether the supposedly disqualified individual is seeking election to office or already holds it. In the case of a candidate, state election officials and state election law will frequently judge that candidate’s ballot eligibility, applying Section Three as described above, and subject to the usual avenues of judicial review. That eligibility question can be a part of a state’s Article II election for electors just as much as any other state election.105 Put simply: a state secretary of state (for example) might well possess state-law authority to determine candidate eligibility for federal elective offices—President and Vice President, U.S. Representatives, U.S. Senators—selected directly or indirectly via state elections; and among those relevant eligibility criteria is whether a candidate is disqualified from the office he or she seeks by Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Bottom line, is that the only way that I see to enforce Secton 3 of the 14th Amendment is for one or more Secretaries of State to rule that TFG is not eligible to be on the ballot. There will be litigation and the case will be decided by the SCOTUS

California has started this process

Link to tweet

FUN FACTS: According to FOX News, (D) 2028 presidential candidate, California Governor Gavin Newsom has become the first governor to declare that Donald Trump should be disqualified from running in future presidential elections. Consequently, Governor Newsom has requested the California State Assembly to enact a bill that will ensure Trump's name is omitted from any upcoming ballots. #DemVoice1 #wtpBLUE