Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) cannot bar Donald Trump from the primary ballot based on a novel interpretation of an obscure clause in a Civil War-era amendment, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford ruled that Secretary of State Benson must list all candidates running for the presidency on the primary ballot, citing Michigan law.
His opinion is a blow to lawsuits in states across the nation seeking to use the Fourteenth Amendment to keep Trump off the ballot. Section 3 of the amendment, known as the “Insurrection Clause,” was intended to prevent former Confederates from serving in the United States government, Trump’s attorneys claim.