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State Officials Reject Calls to Exclude Trump from Primary Ballot

ByAlki David

Sep 14, 2023

Efforts to remove former President Donald Trump from the GOP presidential primary ballot next year have hit a roadblock, with top state election officials, regardless of their party affiliations, showing little support for such a move.

Lawmakers and activists who oppose Trump’s return to politics have pointed to the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution” from holding public office. They argue that this provision should prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot.

However, New Hampshire Secretary of State Dave Scanlan has made it clear that he won’t use the 14th Amendment to disqualify Trump from the ballot.

“In New Hampshire state statute, there is no mention of disqualifying a candidate in a presidential primary using the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution in relation to insurrection and rebellion,” stated Mr. Scanlan, a Republican. “Similarly, the 14th Amendment doesn’t indicate that its provisions should be invoked during the delegate selection process conducted by different states.”

Mr. Scanlan’s announcement followed a surge in inquiries to his office last month, prompted by conservative talk show host Charlie Kirk’s claim that Trump would be excluded from the primary ballot in New Hampshire.

In a highly anticipated development, it seems that legal and logistical challenges stand in the way of efforts to sideline Trump in the upcoming primaries. As the battle for the 2024 presidential nomination heats up, the 14th Amendment debate continues to be a hot topic among political circles and legal experts.

By Alki David

Alki David — Publisher, Media Architect, SIN Network Creator - live, direct-to-public communication, media infrastructure, accountability journalism, and independent distribution. Born in Lagos, Nigeria; educated in the United Kingdom and Switzerland; attended the Royal College of Art. Early internet broadcaster — participated in real-time public coverage during the 1997 Mars landing era using experimental online transmission from Beverly Hills. Founder of FilmOn, one of the earliest global internet television networks offering live and on-demand broadcasting outside legacy gatekeepers. Publisher of SHOCKYA — reporting since 2010 on systemic corruption inside the entertainment business and its expansion into law, finance, and regulation. Creator of the SIN Network (ShockYA Integrated Network), a federated media and civic-information infrastructure spanning investigative journalism, live TV, documentary, and court-record reporting. Lived and worked for over 40 years inside global media hubs including Malibu, Beverly Hills, London, Hong Kong and Gstaad. Early encounter with Julian Assange during the first Hologram USA operations proved a formative turning point — exposing the realities of lawfare, information suppression, and concentrated media power. Principal complainant and driving force behind what court filings describe as the largest consolidated media–legal accountability action on record, now before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Relocated to Antigua & Barbuda and entered sustained legal, civic, and informational confrontation over media power, safeguarding, and accountability at Commonwealth scale.