NH AG To Advise Secretary Of State On Whether Trump Will Be Allowed On 2024 Primary Ballot

CONCORD, NH — State elections and legal officials are eyeing election law and the U.S. Constitution as to whether former President Donald Trump will be allowed to run in the state’s first-in-the-nation primary in 2024.

Several legal scholars and local pols have raised the issue of whether Trump would be allowed to run due to the disqualification clause based on the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The clause states, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

Trump was impeached by the House but not the Senate on Feb. 13, 2021, so he was never convicted of “insurrection or rebellion.” Many opponents of the former president have described the riot at the U.S. Capitol, which led to the deaths of Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter, Rosanne Boyland, and injuries to many capital police officers, as an insurrection. Several rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, have also been convicted on insurrection charges.

Both Attorney General John Formella and Secretary of State David Scanlan issued a joint statement Tuesday to dispel rumors and “misinformation asserting or implying” Scanlan had “already taken a position on or is seeking to take certain action” concerning Trump’s access to Granite State ballots next January.

“Neither the Secretary of State’s Office nor the Attorney General’s Office has taken any position regarding the potential applicability of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to the upcoming presidential election cycle,” Formella and Scanlan said.

The statement confirmed Scanlan requested Formella “advise” him on the meaning of the section and “the provision’s potential applicability to the upcoming presidential election cycle.” The AG’s Office was now “carefully reviewing the legal issues involved.”

The question of whether Trump will be kept off the ballot was raised locally by Bryant “Corky” Messmer, a Republican who lives in Wolfeboro, but is a noted attorney from Colorado, who made much of his fortune after the founding of the Chipotle restaurant chain. Messmer, who Trump endorsed in June 2020 in his ill-fated race against U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, told the NH Journal he was considering legal action.

“I was reading it, and I thought, ‘Someone’s got to pay attention to this; it’s important,’” he said “Then I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to pay attention to it because I believe in the Constitution, and [this question] hasn’t been getting enough attention.”

Trump, who has been indicted in several jurisdictions and faces more than 90 charges, called the indictments, lawsuits, and possible challenges to his ballot access “election interference” by “a partially corrupt ‘System of Justice,’ filled up with Marxists, Fascists, Communists, and Radical Left Democrats” and “part of my political opponents’ campaign plan.” He vowed, however, to press on and win the presidency again.

Chris Ager, the chairman of the NH GOP, said efforts to deny Republican primary voters a full slate of options were antithetical to the state’s “Live Free or Die” spirit.

“The New Hampshire State Republican Party will fight all efforts to eliminate candidates from our Primary ballot,” he said, adding, “I have confidence in our secretary of state and attorney general to make the right decisions. Let voters decide the nominee, not a weaponized federal justice system using tortured logic.”

Former Senate President Chuck Morse, a Salem Republican now running for governor, said Trump “absolutely belongs” on the ballot and efforts to keep him off the ballot were a “stark contrast to our proud New Hampshire primary tradition.” He also circulated a petition link asking people to keep the former president’s ballot access from being infringed.

“The winner of the New Hampshire primary should be chosen by the voters, not hand-picked by politicians and bureaucrats,” he said. “Allowing all candidates who meet the criteria for ballot access onto the primary ballot is critical to preserving our first-in-the-nation status. I'm urging Granite Staters to sign my petition today demanding President Trump and all candidates have access to the ballot in New Hampshire.”

On Twitter, House Speaker Sherman Packard noted that Trump was innocent until proven guilty — and “has yet to be convicted of anything.” He said “nobody does (elections) better” than New Hampshire and trusted there would be no issue regarding ballot access for Trump.

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