The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-national-committee-rnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican National Committee</a>, along with the Michigan Republican Party, filed a lawsuit against the battleground state&#8217;s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Tuesday, alleging the Democrat violated state law over guidance she issued for absentee ballots.
The RNC&#8217;s lawsuit alleges that Benson issued guidance contradictory to Michigan law that requires absentee ballot stub numbers to match the numbers in the poll book and on the ballot return envelope to be counted, Just The News <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/rnc-michigan-gop-sue-secretary-state-jocelyn-benson-over-primary-election" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. RNC election integrity staff said that they saw some absentee ballots being counted with missing stub numbers during Michigan&#8217;s August primary elections, the party <a href="https://www.gop.com/press-release/back-to-back-rnc-sues-michigan-secretary-of-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
The lawsuit accuses Benson of instructing &#8220;local clerks and election inspectors to process and tabulate absent voter ballots where the stub is missing or the number on the stub does not match the number in the poll book or on the ballot return envelope as &#8216;challenged&#8217; ballots rather than reject them as required by Michigan law.&#8221;
“Secretary Benson continues to expose Michigan’s elections to cheating and fraud, forcing Republicans to file suit again to protect the vote for Michiganders,&#8221; RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement. &#8220;We will continue our efforts to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in Michigan &#8211; and around the country &#8211; through November 5.&#8221;
Absentee ballots will start being mailed to voters in the Great Lakes State this week. Christopher Thomas, a former state elections director, <a href="https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2024-09-23/absentee-ballots-to-be-mailed-to-voters-this-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Michigan Public that he expects around 40% of Michigan voters to participate in this year&#8217;s election through mail-in voting, ballot drop box, or early in-person voting.
Benson faces two other election-related lawsuits filed by the RNC earlier this year. In March, the RNC <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rnc-sues-michigan-secretary-of-state-over-inflated-voter-rolls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> the Secretary of State, alleging she has not maintained accurate voter rolls. A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rnc-files-another-election-related-lawsuit-against-democrat-michigan-secretary-of-state" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second lawsuit</a> filed in March accused Benson of instructing local election officials to presume a voter&#8217;s signature was legitimate.
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&#8220;Suing our Secretary of State to enforce the law she swore an oath to uphold is becoming commonplace in Michigan, because the Michigan Republican Party and the Republican National Committee are committed to ensuring the integrity and security of our elections,&#8221; said Michigan GOP Chairman Pete Hoekstra, who was the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands under President Donald Trump. &#8220;Ballot number matching is a law on the books because it&#8217;s a simple safeguard to protect Michiganders&#8217; fundamental right to vote. While Benson continues to circumvent our election laws for her own political agenda, we will fight tirelessly so Michiganders have no doubts when they start to go to the polls.&#8221;
Michigan is a vital battleground state in the upcoming election and was one of the states whose results in 2020 were heavily scrutinized by Trump and many of his supporters. Biden took the state in the 2020 election after Trump had won Michigan over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Currently, the <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/michigan/trump-vs-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RealClearPolitics</a> polling average in Michigan shows Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump by just 1.8 points.
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

Residents Cast Ballots Ahead Of Michigan Primary Election

RNC Sues MI Dem Secretary Of State Over Guidance For Absentee Ballots

RNC Sues Michigan Dem Secretary Of State Over Guidance For Absentee Ballots

2024 Election

ballots

Elections

Michigan

Republican National Committee (RNC)

U.S.

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-national-committee-rnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican National Committee</a> said Wednesday that a county in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pennsylvania</a> sent out 2024 election ballots without conducting accuracy testing required by state laws.
RNC Pennsylvania’s Election Integrity Counsel Linda Kerns <a href="https://prod-static.gop.com/media/documents/let_09-18-2024_to_Mont_County_L_and_A_testing_1726715258.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that officials in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania’s third most populous county, had sent out mail-in and absentee ballots without logic and accuracy tests. Kerns said that the county must remedy the situation by hand counting the ballots when returned.
“The Republican National Committee seeks a free and fair election for all voters in this Commonwealth. Montgomery County’s defiance of mandatory testing undermines confidence and trust in the integrity of the election,” Kerns wrote in a letter to Montgomery County Board of Elections Chair Neil Makhija. “Our proposed remedy — to segregate and count by hand the affected ballots — protects the rights of voters who, through no fault of their own, received ballots that the county distributed in violation of law.”
Kerns pointed to <a href="https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/dos/resources/voting-and-elections/directives-and-guidance/2024-Directive-on-Logic-Accuracy-Testing-3.0.pdf">directives</a> from the Pennsylvania secretary of state that say election officials “must conduct pre-election logic and accuracy testing.”
According to the directive, the purpose of these tests is to “ensure that ballots, scanners, ballot-marking devices, and all components of a county’s certified voting system are properly configured and in good working order prior to being used in an election.”
The RNC said that Montgomery County should immediately stop sending out all ballots until the completion of mandatory testing.
Montgomery County told The Daily Wire that the RNC&#8217;s letter was not accurate.
<div>&#8220;The statements from the RNC are not true. We have conducted ballot acceptance testing and are fully complying with the election code and Department of State directives. The RNC letter is misrepresenting the election code and DOS guidance,&#8221; the county told The Daily Wire.</div>
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Kerns added that the RNC had already lodged a complaint with the Montgomery County Election Tip Line.
“Pennsylvania voters deserve to know why these ballots were distributed without testing and be assured Montgomery County is counting them properly,” said RNC Chair Michael Whatley said. “This is an unacceptable breach of election integrity, and all legal options are on the table.”
On Tuesday, Makhija <a href="https://x.com/NeilMakhija/status/1836082080444551429" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X that he had “cast the first 2024 General Election ballot in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” He added that 115,000 ballots would be shipped out this week.
The Daily Wire reached out to Makhija for comment on the RNC’s letter.
Pennsylvania is expected to be one of the battlegrounds that determine whether former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins then election.

A woman takes a mail-in ballot from an envelope at a polling

RNC Says Pennsylvania County Ignored State Law Before Sending Out Mail-In Ballots

Donald Trump

Kamala Harris

Mail-In Voting

Pennsylvania

Politics

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scored major back-to-back courtroom wins on Friday when judges ruled that his name would be removed from the ballot in the battleground states of North Carolina and Michigan.
Since he dropped out of the race last month and endorsed former President Donald Trump, Kennedy has been fighting Democratic officials in several states to have his name removed from ballots ahead of the November presidential election — with the consensus being that his name on the ballot would hurt Trump more than it would hurt Vice President Kamala Harris. Kennedy opted to remain on the ballots in solid blue or red states, giving his supporters room to cast a protest vote against both major party candidates.
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In North Carolina, the Democrat-controlled State Board of Elections denied Kennedy&#8217;s request to remove his name along party lines. Kennedy filed suit, and a judge on Thursday ordered that his name should remain on the ballots — but gave him until noon on Friday to appeal that decision.
Appeal Kennedy did, and on Friday morning the North Carolina Court of Appeals <a href="https://appellate.nccourts.org/dockets.php?court=2&amp;docket=2-P2024-0624-001&amp;pdf=1&amp;a=0&amp;dev=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reversed the prior decision</a>:
<blockquote>By unanimous vote, the motion for temporary stay and petition for writ of supersedeas filed in this cause by petitioner Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on 5 September 2024 are allowed as follows: The Petition for Writ of Supersedeas is allowed and the &#8220;Order on Plaintiff&#8217;s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, and, in the Alternative, an Expedited Preliminary Injunction&#8221; entered on 5 September 2024 by Judge Rebecca Holt is hereby stayed. Respondents are hereby enjoined from disseminating ballots listing petitioner as a candidate for President of the United States. The stay and injunction will remain in effect until the disposition of petitioner&#8217;s appeal or until further order of this Court. This cause is remanded to the Superior Court of Wake County for entry of order directing the State Board of Elections to disseminate ballots without the name of petitioner Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. appearing as a candidate for President of the United States.</blockquote>
North Carolina Board of Elections General Counsel Paul Cox has since ordered county elections boards throughout the state to hold the mail-in ballots that were supposed to be sent out until the state board determines whether or not to appeal the decision.
&#8220;Our attorneys are reviewing the order and determining how to move forward. No decision has been made on whether this ruling will be appealed,&#8221; Cox said.
A similar scene played out in Michigan, where Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson — despite arguing that independent presidential candidate Cornel West should be removed from the ballot — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-dem-sos-says-rfk-jr-s-name-must-remain-on-ballot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refused to remove</a> Kennedy&#8217;s name after he requested that she do so.
Kennedy again filed suit, and on Friday morning, a panel of three judges <a href="https://aboutblaw.com/bfxt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled in his favor</a>. The conclusion of their three-page decision was as follows:
<blockquote>Plaintiff sought to have his name withdrawn from the ballot in advance of the upcoming general election. While the request was made close to the deadline for defendant to give notice of candidates to local election officials, it was not made so late that laches should apply. Additionally, we conclude that the absence of any statutory authority prohibiting his withdrawal gave plaintiff a clear legal right to have his name removed from the ballot. [Secretary of State Benson] had no ability to disregard that request. And, at this point, no other remedy aside from mandamus is available to plaintiff, given the impending deadline for defendant to send notice to local election officials. &#8230; Accordingly, we hold that plaintiff is entitled to mandamus relief and that defendant shall remove plaintiff’s name from the ballot, as requested.</blockquote>
Kennedy is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-jr-to-appear-on-virginia-ballot-leftist-cornel-west-disqualified" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still on the ballot</a> in Virginia and in Wisconsin.

Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Holds Rally In Glendale, Arizona

RFK Jr. Scores Major Wins For Trump In 2 Battleground States

North Carolina

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.&#8217;s name must remain on Michigan&#8217;s general election ballot despite his push to remove it from ballots in battleground states, according to Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
After <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-endorses-trump-for-president" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsing</a> Trump last week, Kennedy said he would remain on the ballot in &#8220;red&#8221; and &#8220;blue&#8221; states but remove himself from &#8220;10 battleground states&#8221; where he could potentially act as a &#8220;spoiler.&#8221; Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/08/27/michigan-rfk-jr-ballot-2024-trump?utm_campaign=editorial&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Tuesday that Michigan Secretary of State Benson&#8217;s office said in a statement, &#8220;Minor party candidates cannot withdraw, so his name will remain on the ballot in the November election.&#8221;
In April, Kennedy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-jr-gains-ballot-access-in-major-battleground-state-through-a-third-party-campaign-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">qualified</a> for the Michigan general election ballot through the Natural Law Party, which had already filed the necessary paperwork to have its candidate on the ballot. Cheri Hardmon, senior press secretary for the Michigan Secretary of State, said, &#8220;The Natural Law Party held their convention to select electors for [RFK Jr.]. They cannot meet at this point to select new electors since it&#8217;s past the primary.&#8221;
Michigan has played a crucial role in the past two presidential elections, swinging from Donald Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020. Vice President Kamala Harris currently leads in the Michigan polls by two points, according to the <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/michigan/trump-vs-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RealClearPolitics</a> average. Six recent polls <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/08/rfk-jr-third-party-effect-are-now-hurting-trump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited</a> by The Washington Post showed Harris performing better against Trump nationally if Kennedy remained on the ballot.
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Before Kennedy had even made it on the Michigan ballot, the Democratic Party <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dnc-launches-billboards-attacking-rfk-jr-as-independent-candidate-campaigns-in-michigan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> a billboard campaign in Grand Rapids, claiming Kennedy was &#8220;bankrolled by the same extreme MAGA donor as Donald Trump.&#8221; The Democrat-turned-independent candidate blasted the Democratic Party in his speech last week when he announced he was suspending his campaign and backing Trump.
“In the name of saving democracy, the Democratic Party set itself to dismantling it, lacking confidence in its candidate, that its candidate could win in a fair election at the voting booth, the DNC waged continual legal warfare against both President Trump and myself,” he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-jr-tears-media-democrat-party-to-pieces-in-scathing-speech-endorses-trump">said</a>. “Each time that our volunteers turned in those towering boxes of signatures needed to get on the ballot, the DNC dragged us into court, state after state, attempting to erase their work and to subvert the will of the voters who had signed those petitions.”
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Michigan Dem SOS Says RFK Jr.’s Name Must Remain On Ballot

Michigan Dem SOS Says RFK Jr.'s Name Must Remain On Ballot

Election

A Democratic National Committee member filed a complaint on Wednesday seeking to have Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein removed from the general election ballot in Wisconsin.
The complaint alleges that the Green Party can&#8217;t nominate presidential electors in Wisconsin and argues that without electors, the Green Party is ineligible to have a candidate on the ballot, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-jill-stein-harris-trump-lawsuit-405e8bae8ff9becfa81a1360708d59a0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Stein was on the ballot in Wisconsin as the Green Party&#8217;s candidate in the 2016 election and received more than 31,000 votes. Former President Donald Trump beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 by just under 23,000 votes, resulting in some Democrats blaming Stein for Trump&#8217;s victory in the swing state.
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The DNC complaint alleges that the Green Party does not have a person who is qualified to nominate electors under state law, which says that those who nominate electors must be current state officers or candidates for the state legislature.
“We take the nomination process for President and Vice President very seriously and believe every candidate should follow the rules,” senior adviser to the DNC Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “Because the Wisconsin Green Party hasn’t fielded candidates for legislative or statewide office and doesn’t have any current incumbent legislative or statewide office holders, it cannot nominate candidates and should not be on the ballot in November.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/14/politics/wisconsin-supreme-court-absentee-ballots-green-party/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> in 2020 that the Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins could not be added to the presidential election ballot. The court argued that putting him on the ballot in September after many mail-in ballots had been sent out because of the COVID pandemic would “create a substantial possibility of confusion among voters who had already received, and possibly returned, the original ballots.&#8221; Joe Biden beat Trump in Wisconsin by just over <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-wisconsin.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20,000 votes</a>, a slim margin that could have been significantly affected by a Green Party candidate on the ballot.
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A Democrat-backed group petitioned a judge to have Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed from New York&#8217;s 2024 ballot and succeeded. Earlier this week, the New York judge ruled that Kennedy should not appear on the state&#8217;s ballot, arguing that the independent candidate falsely stated that he was a New York resident on his nominating petitions when he is a resident of California, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-rfk-jr-ballot-new-york-residency-faaf0c8d7638cdfcdbe3c4eb7b542eef" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the AP.
Kennedy appealed the ruling, <a href="https://x.com/StefanieSpear/status/1823153435715256574" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stating</a>, “The Democrats are showing contempt for democracy. They aren’t confident they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to stop voters from having a choice. We will appeal and we will win.”

Jill Stein

Dems Push For Green Party’s Jill Stein To Be Removed From Ballot In Vital Swing State

Dems Push For Green Party's Jill Stein To Be Removed From Ballot In Vital Swing State

Democrats

Green Party

Wisconsin

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin</a> Supreme Court ruled on Friday that ballot drop boxes can be used for the 2024 presidential election, overturning a previous decision from the court saying the boxes were illegal after widespread use during the 2020 election. 
In a 4-3 <a href="https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&amp;seqNo=822752" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a>, the liberals on the court said that Wisconsin law allowed for the use of ballot drop boxes for absentee voting and that city election clerks were free to use them to administer elections. The ruling was celebrated by Democrats but decried by Republicans. 
&#8220;Our decision today does not force or require that any municipal clerks use drop boxes. It merely acknowledges what [state law] has always meant: that clerks may lawfully utilize secure drop boxes in an exercise of their statutorily-conferred discretion,&#8221; Justice Ann Walsh Bradley wrote.
Friday’s decision overrules a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wisconsin-supreme-court-bans-uses-of-drop-boxes-in-elections" target="_blank" rel="noopener">July 2022 4-3 decision</a> by a conservative majority banning the use of unmanned ballot drop boxes. Democrats again challenged the prohibition on ballot drop boxes after liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/liberal-wisconsin-judge-wins-supreme-court-race-flips-balance-of-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defeated a conservative candidate</a> in a Supreme Court election last year. 
The court&#8217;s conservatives strongly disagreed with the majority’s decision, arguing it was politically motivated and would be used to further weaken election integrity. 
“The majority again forsakes the rule of law in an attempt to advance its political agenda,” wrote Justice Rebecca Bradley. &#8220;The majority ends the term by loosening the legislature&#8217;s regulations governing the privilege of absentee voting in the hopes of tipping the scales in future elections.&#8221;
She added that the majority decision would “legitimize any method of getting absentee ballots to a municipal clerk that the clerk may choose.”
“An unattended cardboard box on the clerk&#8217;s driveway? An unsecured sack sitting outside the local library or on a college campus? Door-to-door retrieval from voters&#8217; homes or dorm rooms? Under the majority&#8217;s logic, because the statute doesn&#8217;t expressly forbid such methods of ballot delivery, they are perfectly lawful,” she wrote. 
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Democrat Governor Tony Evers celebrated the ruling, calling it a “victory for democracy&#8221; and said he would &#8220;keep fighting to ensure that every eligible voter can cast their ballot safely, securely, and as easily as possible to make sure their voices are heard.&#8221;
Wisconsin GOP Chair Brian Schimming expressed disappointment with the ruling.
“In a setback for both the separation of powers and public trust in our elections, the left-wing justices on the Supreme Court of Wisconsin have obeyed the demands of their out-of-state donors at the expense of Wisconsin,” he said. “This latest attempt by leftist justices to placate their far-left backers will not go unanswered by voters.”
Wisconsin is expected to be one of the key states that determine the 2024 presidential election.

Early Voting Begins In Swing State Of Wisconsin

Swing State Supreme Court Rules That Ballot Drop Boxes Can Be Used In 2024 Election

Courts

Tony Evers

Voting

A former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin</a> election official was found guilty of voter fraud charges on Wednesday after she generated ballots for fictional members of the military during the 2022 election. 
Former Milwaukee Election Commission Deputy Commissioner Kimberly Zapata was <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/03/20/former-milwaukee-election-deputy-convicted-in-fake-military-ballots/72950576007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> guilty of felony misconduct in public office and three misdemeanor counts of making a false statement to obtain an absentee ballot. Zapata’s lawyers claimed that she was a whistleblower trying to expose loopholes in the Wisconsin election system while the jury determined that she had committed election fraud. 
During the 2022 election cycle, Zapata used My Vote Wisconsin to obtain three absentee ballots using the names of fictional military members. The ballots were sent to the home of state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, a Republican who voiced questions about the integrity of the 2020 election. Military members do not need to show an ID to obtain an absentee ballot in Wisconsin.
Brandtjen reported the ballots addressed to fictitious military members, and shortly after, Zapata was fired and accused of voter fraud. 
“We rely on our election workers to maintain the integrity of our election system,” Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Westphal said during the trial, <a href="https://www.wpr.org/news/jury-former-milwaukee-election-official-guilty-election-fraud-zapata" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to WPR. “Ms. Zapata took a tiny hammer and started chiseling away at that foundation. Instead of helping secure the absentee ballot system, she introduced fraud into that system.”
Lawyer Daniel Adams, who defended Zapata, claimed she was trying to expose vulnerabilities in the election system. 
“She was a whistleblower, she was showing the truth, with an action — an imperfect action, but a truthful action — what was going on,” he said. “There’s a huge flaw here, and if people don’t take it seriously, some nefarious person will do something bad with this flaw in the system.”
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Brandtjen said she was unaware of why the ballots were sent to her and had never spoken with Zapata.
“If Ms. Zapata had wished to raise concerns about the election process, she could have done so anonymously by contacting appropriate authorities rather than jeopardizing her job and reputation,” she said. “I cannot speak to Kim Zapata’s intent as I have never spoken with her.”
Zapata, who will be sentenced in May, could face more than four years in prison and over $10,000 in fines for all four counts. 
Headed into 2024, election measures are expected to be scrutinized as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump appear set for a rematch. The Wisconsin Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wisconsin-supreme-court-bans-uses-of-drop-boxes-in-elections" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously ruled</a> that the widespread use of ballot drop boxes in the 2020 election violated state election law.

Election Day in the United States of America – WISCONSIN

Former Wisconsin Election Official Found Guilty Of Generating Absentee Ballots For Fictitious Voters

2020 Election

Crime

Election Fraud

CNN senior legal analyst and New York Magazine columnist Elie Honig <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/14th-amendment-trump-ballot-effort-was-doomed.html?utm_source=tw&amp;utm_campaign=nym&amp;utm_medium=s1">blasted Democrats</a> for trying to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot, saying that the effort was &#8220;doomed to fail&#8221; from the start and it will only help him moving forward.
The Supreme Court issued a ruling on Monday that determined the state of Colorado cannot remove former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The ruling was 9-0.
Honig said the notion that Trump could be removed was nothing more than a &#8220;wild law-school hypothetical sprung to life&#8221; which will now provide Trump &#8220;with fuel for his effort to win back the White House.&#8221;
He continued:
<blockquote>You’ll be forgiven if you expected a different result. After all, we’ve endured months of cocksure guarantees from leading constitutional scholars that Colorado’s application of the 14th Amendment against Trump was legally “unassailable in every single respect” — this from a retired judge who assured us not to worry because “I’ve been studying this specific question in great detail for the past three years. So, you know, I consider myself, personally, an expert on the question.” Other thought leaders offered up an “amen” chorus, disparaging any argument that the 14th Amendment might not work as “extremely weak” and “just complete nonsense.” Turns out you can’t bludgeon the Constitution into the ground with hyperbolic, conclusory rhetoric.</blockquote>
Honig noted that there have been numerous other cases where lawfare activists have tried to prevent Trump from holding office by citing the 14th Amendment and that all of those cases lost.
&#8220;The justices differed a bit on how exactly a federal candidate can be disqualified in the future, but the bottom-line vote was a stinging, unequivocal rejection of the state-by-state approach,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It’s not often we see justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito on the same page as justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, but the 14th Amendment challenges were so obviously flawed that they ended up creating a cross-ideological consensus.&#8221;
He added:
<blockquote>The Supreme Court has now made clear what was already apparent on the face of the Constitution itself: Without some specific enabling act of Congress, it’s not up to the states. This shouldn’t have been some sort of mystery. It’s right there in the 14th Amendment’s plain text: “The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” At any point since the 14th Amendment’s ratification in 1868, Congress could have passed a law saying, in essence, “We’ll let the states decide, so long as they use reasonably fair procedures.” But it’s been 150-plus years now and Congress has done no such thing. Unless and until that changes, the 14th Amendment will remain a dusty, nonfunctional curiosity.</blockquote>
He added that many burned &#8220;resources, credibility, and political capital&#8221; in the doomed effort to remove Trump from the ballot and that &#8220;his supporters surely will rally around a failed effort by a bunch of Northeastern, elitist law-professor types to use the courts to deny the American voters a choice and to take out the Republican front-runner.&#8221;
&#8220;This is one of Trump’s unique political gifts: He inspires such visceral hatred in his opponents that he provokes them to self-destruct,&#8221; he concluded.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/absolutely-bats-colorado-democrat-dragged-for-msnbc-melodrama-over-scotus-ballot-ruling">‘Absolutely Bats***’: Colorado Democrat Dragged For MSNBC Melodrama Over SCOTUS Ballot Ruling</a>

Elie Honig

CNN Legal Expert Blasts Democrats For Trying To Ban Trump From Ballot: ‘Doomed To Fail,’ Will ‘Fuel’ Trump To White House

Supreme Court

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nevada" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nevada</a> Secretary of State’s Office launched an investigation after some residents were told that their votes had been counted in the recent primary election despite the fact that they had not voted.
After local outlets <a href="https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/glitch-causing-unmailed-nevada-ballots-to-show-up-as-counted/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> the news on Sunday, state officials looked into the issue and said that it had been caused by a “technical” problem and that the irregularities had to do with how county data was uploaded to a state database. 
“The issue was as follows: on a nightly basis, each county uploads their voter registration data to the Secretary of State’s database, which executes code to create the single statewide voter registration file that users see when they log into vote.nv.gov. The legacy systems used by a number of the counties require additional steps be taken to ensure that voters who did not return their ballot do not have vote history; some of those steps were not taken, which resulted in inaccurate data,” a statement from the office of Democrat Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said on Monday. 
Aguilar’s office said that all the data in the system should be correct within two days. The statement said that the errors did not affect the counting in the<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/none-of-these-candidates-more-than-doubles-nikki-haleys-vote-tally-in-trump-less-nevada-primary" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> primary</a>, which President Joe Biden won on the Democrat side. “None of these candidates” took the top spot for the Republican primary as former President Donald Trump opted to compete in the Republican caucus instead. 
Registered Republican Daphne Lee <a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/nevada-identifies-voter-history-errors-on-website-fixes-underway-3003358/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Las Vegas Review-Journal that she and her family were all listed as having voted by mail even though they hadn’t. She added that she was told she was no longer registered to vote after attempting to opt out of getting mail ballots. 
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“It’s just so frustrating,” she said. “This makes everyone uncomfortable.”
Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald said that the party was speaking with Aguilar&#8217;s office about the investigation. 
“We take these reports very seriously,” said Chairman Michael McDonald. “The cornerstone of our Republic is the trust and confidence of the American people in the electoral process. Any indication of irregularities must be thoroughly investigated to ensure the integrity of our elections.”
Nevada has universal mail voting, meaning that every registered voter in the state is mailed a ballot.

Woman’s hand placing a 2020 mail-in election ballot in a rural mailbox

Nevada Launches Investigation After Residents Told Their Ballot Had Been Counted When They Hadn’t Voted

Nevada

Former President Donald Trump will remain on the ballot in Maine for now after the state’s highest court declined to take up an appeal from Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Wednesday. 
After Bellows decided to remove Trump from the state’s ballot, citing the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment, a Superior Court judge put Bellows’ decision on hold, saying she would not decide on the case until the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling on Colorado’s attempt to remove the former president from its ballot. 
Bellows appealed the Superior Court’s decision to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which — in a unanimous decision — declined to take up the case, keeping in place the lower court’s decision to hold out on a ruling until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/maine-trump-ballot-insurrection-amendment-2240b954d91c442b5644c74b2823f2c0">reported</a>. 
“The Secretary of State suggests that there is irreparable harm because a delay in certainty about whether Trump’s name should appear on the primary ballot will result in voter confusion. This uncertainty is, however, precisely what guides our decision not to undertake immediate appellate review in this particular case,” the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said.
The U.S. Supreme Court will <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-agrees-to-review-colorado-decision-removing-trump-from-ballot">begin hearing arguments</a> on the Colorado case on February 8, less than a month before Maine holds its primary on March 5. Bellows <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maine-kicks-trump-off-2024-primary-ballot">kicked Trump off</a> the state’s ballot in late December, just a little over a week after the Colorado Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-supreme-court-rules-trump-not-eligible-to-run-in-2024-removes-him-from-ballot">ruled</a> Trump is ineligible to appear on the ballot. 
In an appeal to the Maine Superior Court following Bellow’s decision, Trump’s lawyers called the secretary of state a “biased decision maker.” 
“The secretary should have recused herself due to her bias against President Trump, as demonstrated by a documented history of prior statements prejudging the issue presented,” Trump’s lawyers said. 
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s decision to reject Bellows’ appeal is similar to a decision made by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oregon-supreme-court-shoots-down-challenge-seeking-to-remove-trump-from-ballot">Oregon Supreme Court</a> earlier this month. The challenge to Trump’s ballot eligibility was brought by five Oregon voters who want the former president disqualified from the ballot. But as with the case in Maine, Oregon Chief Justice Meagan Flynn pointed to the Colorado case, and said those challenging Trump’s appearance on the state’s ballot will have to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide on the Colorado case. 
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The Supreme Court’s decision on the Colorado ballot case will also likely have implications for groups of voters in Illinois and Massachusetts who are seeking to remove Trump from the ballot.

Trump Remains On Ballot In Maine Pending SCOTUS Decision After State’s Top Court Declines Appeal

Trump Remains On Ballot In Maine Pending SCOTUS Decision After State's Top Court Declines Appeal

Maine

Secretary of State

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin</a> judge has sided with a voter who argued that the city of Racine violated state law when it operated a van that drove to locations throughout the city and collected absentee ballots. 
Racine County Circuit Court Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz ruled that the city’s use of a mobile van for absentee voting violated state law and benefited Democrats unfairly in a primary election in August 2022. The van was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-racine-absentee-voting-van-16e07f54c595013ffeeb190c706ba4d8#:~:text=MADISON%2C%20Wis.,around%20the%20city%20in%202022." target="_blank" rel="noopener">bought</a> with money from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a nonprofit run by Mark Zuckerberg that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/georgia-bans-counties-from-using-private-money-for-elections-after-2020-zuckerbucks-controversy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has been accused</a> of allocating funds for elections in ways that benefit Democrats. 
The decision came after Ken Brown, represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), sued the Wisconsin Elections Commission and Racine City Clerk Tara McMenamin. Intervenors on behalf of the defendants included the Democratic National Committee, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, and the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans. 
In his <a href="https://will-law.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Brown-v.-WEC-Decision.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruling</a>, Gasiorkiewicz said that while state law did not expressly prohibit mobile van absentee ballot sites, there was nothing in state law to allow them either. 
“Nothing in the statutory language detailing the procedures by which absentee ballots may be cast mentions mobile van absentee ballot sites or anything like them. Such an interpretation was and is contrary to law,” he said. 
According to WILL, <a href="https://will-law.org/will-wins-election-integrity-lawsuit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">there were</a> almost two dozen sites throughout Racine where a mobile van parked for several hours of in-person absentee voting in the two weeks before the 2022 election. 
The ruling could come into play as the 2024 presidential election approaches and voting rules in Wisconsin come under scrutiny. The Wisconsin Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wisconsin-supreme-court-bans-uses-of-drop-boxes-in-elections" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously ruled</a> that the use of ballot drop boxes in 2020 was illegal, but the decision could be reversed as liberals have taken a majority on the court. 
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Gasiorkiewicz also sided with Brown’s statements that the use of the van benefited Democrats. 
“The statute in question clearly and unequivocally indicates that chosen alternate absentee balance balloting sites cannot afford an advantage to any political party,” Gasiorkiewicz wrote. “The filings in this case clearly indicated that the alternate sites chosen clearly favored members of the Democratic Party or those with known Democratic Party leanings.”
WILL celebrated the decision, saying that it was a win for election integrity. 
“Wisconsin voters should know that their elections are secure, and that election administration does not favor one political party over another. This decision does just that. WILL’s policy and legal expertise allow us to hold government actors accountable to the rule of law at all levels, ‘WILL Deputy Counsel Lucas Vebber said.

Blank white van

Mobile Absentee Voting Van Used In Wisconsin Election Violated State Law, Judge Rules

2022 Election

Ballot Harvesting

Mark Zuckerberg

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber refused to go along with calls from some Democrats in her state to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot. 
Last week, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis called for Weber to strike Trump from the ballot following the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar the former president from the ballot, claiming the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment disqualifies him from holding office. Weber responded to the lieutenant governor’s request without clarifying whether she would follow through and remove Trump&#8217;s name from the pool of candidates, but on Thursday night, the secretary of state’s office released the list of certified candidates, showing Trump on the ballot, CBS Los Angeles <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/california-secretary-of-state-declines-remove-donald-trump-from-presidential-primary-ballot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
While Weber didn’t comment on her refusal to go along with some Democrats’ calls for Trump’s removal, she wrote in a letter to Kounalakis last week that “Removing a candidate from the ballot under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment is not something my office takes lightly and is not as simple as the requirement that a person be at least 35 years old to be president.&#8221;
Multiple top California Democrats joined Kounalakis’ request for Trump’s removal from the ballot, but Governor Gavin Newsom — who has been floated as a potential future Democratic presidential candidate — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/newsom-criticizes-proposal-to-kick-trump-off-ballot-in-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slammed</a> the idea of kicking Trump off the primary ballot. 
“There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a threat to our liberties and even to our democracy,” Newsom said. “But in California, we defeat candidates at the polls. Everything else is a political distraction.”
Trump, the Republican frontrunner, is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colorado-to-include-trump-on-primary-ballot-for-now" target="_blank" rel="noopener">back on the ballot</a> in Colorado for the time being after the state’s Republican Party appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump will remain on the state’s ballot “unless the Supreme Court declines to take the case or otherwise affirms the Colorado Supreme Court ruling,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office said on Thursday. 
Just hours after the former president was put back on Colorado’s ballot, however, another blue state <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maine-kicks-trump-off-2024-primary-ballot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">removed</a> him from its ballot. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Thursday that Trump is disqualified from the state’s primary ballot, arguing that he violated the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause due to his conduct leading up to the U.S. Capitol breach on January 6, 2021.
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Trump’s team blasted Maine’s move to remove the Republican Party’s leading candidate from the ballot and vowed to take legal action. 
“We will quickly file a legal objection in state court to prevent this atrocious decision in Maine from taking effect, and President Trump will never stop fighting to Make America Great Again,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Trump is currently leading Republican candidates in national primary <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/republican-primary/2024/national" target="_blank" rel="noopener">polls</a> by over 50 points and is polling <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ahead</a> of President Joe Biden by around two points, according to the latest Real Clear Politics average. The 2024 primary season kicks off with the Iowa caucuses on January 15 and the New Hampshire primary on January 23.

California Secretary Of State Refuses To Remove Trump From Ballot

California Secretary of State Refuses To Remove Trump From Ballot

2024 Primaries

California

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