The New York State Board of Elections voted Tuesday to put former President Donald Trump on the state’s presidential primary ballot, just two days before the Supreme Court hears a high-stakes challenge to the GOP front-runner’s eligibility.
The election board’s two Republican commissioners, Anthony Casale and Peter Kosinski, rejected arguments that Trump, 77, should be disqualified for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The bipartisan board has four members; however, the two Republicans have authority over the eligibility of Republican candidates.
Casale said Tuesday that the board had received correspondence from voters insisting that the former commander in chief should be declared ineligible, but that its decision was constrained by state rules on a candidate’s national prominence and campaign finances.
“No matter what critics say, our authority extends to those two criteria. We don’t feel like we have the authority to go further,” Casale said after the meeting.
The New York State Board of Elections voted Tuesday to put Donald Trump on the primary ballot. AFP via Getty Images
“They have to go to court to do that. “We don’t do that in the Electoral Board.”
Meanwhile, Democratic state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal quickly filed an objection with the elections board and vowed to overturn the decision, citing the 14th Amendment’s ban on officials who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion,” which was enacted after the civil War. War.
Start your day with everything you need to know
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
Thanks for registering!
Two Republican commissioners on the election board rejected arguments that the former president should be disqualified. AFP via Getty Images
“The Board of Elections can still defend the United States Constitution by upholding our objection and disqualifying Donald Trump from the presidential ballot,” Hoylman-Sigal said.
“As the Colorado State Supreme Court has already correctly ruled, Donald Trump is disqualified from holding any elected office in the United States due to participating in and inciting a violent insurrection in which he attempted to overturn the will of the American people while taking multiple lives. “, continued the legislator.
“If the Board of Elections fails in its duty and declares Trump ineligible, I will see them in court.”
Hoylman-Sigal and others had previously sent a letter to the Empire State Board of Elections in December stating that the former president should be excluded from the state ballot due to his role in the insurrection.
Donald Trump collects his ballot at a polling station in 2016. AFP via Getty Images
Hoylman-Sigal has hired two attorneys, Roger Bernstein and Jerry Goldfeder, to represent him and other anti-Trump objectors.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court will decide whether Trump can be excluded from state presidential ballots after the Colorado Supreme Court found that he had violated the so-called “Insurrection Clause” of the Constitution.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn