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Jean Hay Shiny, a political commentator and occasional candidate (she ran in opposition to U.S. Sen.Olympia Snowe in 2006) is now a semi-retired farmer, residing in Dixmont.
What’s troubling me concerning the Feb. 8 U. S. Supreme Court docket’s listening to on the Colorado Supreme Court docket’s choice to disclaim Donald Trump entry to the presidential main poll in that state is that it appears woefully obvious that lots of the justices don’t have any clue how presidential candidates get on state ballots.
They questioned the propriety of 1 state (Colorado) by its actions presumably twisting the end result of the election — lamenting how some states would agree however others wouldn’t, resulting in a hodgepodge of voter choices.
The justices don’t seem to know the fundamental proven fact that, underneath the U.S. Structure, states are accountable for the method of getting candidates on the presidential ballots — and that each state has a distinct course of.
In New Hampshire, plunk down $1,000 and your identify seems on the presidential main of your alternative.
In Maine, c andidates should get a sure variety of voter signatures on petitions, have these signatures verified by every city the place these signers vote, and submit all of the verified petitions to the Secretary of State’s workplace earlier than a selected deadline. Miss the deadline, even by a couple of minutes, too unhealthy. Or, get a lot of signatures, however not sufficient town-verified, sorry. (In case you hadn’t heard, that’s why Chris Christie didn’t make it onto Maine’s Republican March 5 presidential main poll, and dropped out of the race shortly thereafter.)
Since political events will not be acknowledged within the U.S. Structure, state legal guidelines prevail. And, wow, are they totally different. In some states, established political events name the photographs, merely declaring who their candidates are, usually to the exclusion of different celebration candidates. Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips weren’t routinely included on Democratic main ballots in these states.
That’s why third-party or unbiased candidates have such a tough time. It’s almost unattainable for them to get on sufficient state ballots — not to mention win — to gather the requisite 270 electoral votes to win nationally.
As an alternative, the Supreme Court docket ought to concentrate on the fundamentals in Part 3 of the 14 th Modification to get to the place we have to go.
They need to declare that the U.S. president is certainly an officer of the US.
That the presidential oath to “protect and defend” does name for the president to “help” the Structure — actually it suggests past supporting.
The justices ought to say they agree with the Colorado Supreme Court docket that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot qualifies as an rebel, in its planning and makes an attempt to overthrow the election.
Lastly, the U.S. Supreme Court docket ought to agree with the discovering of the Colorado Supreme Court docket that Donald Trump “engaged in rebel or riot” in opposition to the U.S., and/or had “given support or consolation” to the insurrectionists.
After which the Supreme Court docket must step again and let the states do their factor.
