Dec. 19 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump will appear on North Carolina’s ballot for the 2024 primary, after state elections officials dismissed a complaint Tuesday that sought to disqualify him from running for the White House.
North Carolina’s State Board of Elections voted 4 to 1 to dismiss the complaint, which was filed Monday by a federal government attorney and businessman in Stokes County.
Brian Martin’s 27-page complaint argued that Trump was not qualified to run for president because he violated the 14th Amendment by engaging in the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Trump directed the crowd to march on the Capitol and said he would join them,” the complaint said, adding “Trump did so even though he knew he had lost the election.”
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore said Tuesday the “complaint filed with the NCSBE against President Trump has entirely no merit and has one aim — to deny North Carolina voters their constitutional right to decide for themselves who our next president will be.”
“Rather than let the voters decide, some activists would prefer to effectively silence the former president,” Moore added in a statement. “I wholeheartedly condemn this malicious attempt to interfere with our elections here in North Carolina.”
Earlier Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from Colorado’s 2024 ballot, stating in its ruling that “President Trump engaged in insurrection” and violated the 14th Amendment, which states that officials who take an oath to support the U.S. Constitution are banned from future office if they “engage in insurrection.”
Trump blasted Colorado’s ruling and vowed to appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
While elections officials in North Carolina voted Tuesday to keep Trump on the primary ballot, they said another challenge could get the former president removed from the state’s general election ballot, if he wins the Republican nomination.
In total, seven Republican presidential candidates were approved for North Carolina’s primary ballot. They include Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Ryan Binkley.
Elections officials also voted to secure only one spot on the ballot for Democratic presidential candidates, which went to President Joe Biden and angered his rivals.
U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who is challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination, blasted North Carolina’s ballot decision to keep him off the ballot.
“If Joe Biden is the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump and lead us to a safer, more affordable future, let him compete for that privilege without his supporters suppressing and disenfranchising millions of voters.”