Trump wins Michigan state court battle to qualify for primary election ballot

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump scored a victory in his fight against challenges to his eligibility for the White House on Wednesday when Michigan’s top court declined to hear a case seeking to disqualify him from the state’s presidential primary ballot.

The Michigan Supreme Court said it would not hear an appeal from four voters in the state seeking to bar the former president from the Feb. 27 Republican primary for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

The voters argued that Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, could not serve as president under a provision in the US Constitution that bars people from holding office if they engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” after swearing an oath to the United States.

“We are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court,” the justices said in a brief order.

Trump in a post on his Truth Social site said that the court “strongly and rightfully denied” what he called a “desperate Democrat attempt” to take him off the ballot in Michigan.

A lawyer representing the voters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Michigan ruling contrasts with a decision by Colorado’s top court last week to disqualify Trump under the same constitutional provision, known as Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Trump has vowed to appeal the Colorado ruling to the US Supreme Court.

Unlike in Colorado, the Michigan Supreme Court did not decide the merits of whether Trump engaged in insurrection. The justices upheld lower court rulings concluding that courts should not decide the issue.

Unlike 14th Amendment challenges brought in some other states, Michigan is considered one of the key swing states likely to decide the outcome of the November 2024 general election.