The Iowa Secretary of State's office has filed a bill that would prevent Iowans from challenging Donald Trump's place on the 2024 general election ballot on 14th Amendment grounds.
The former president, who won victories in Iowa and New Hampshire this month, is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024.
But Trump has faced challenges to his candidacy in several states, including Colorado and Maine, which have said he should be removed from their primary ballots under Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment that bars officials from holding office again if they "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Trump's appeal of the Colorado challenge, which revolved around his actions leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the court's decision could determine what happens in other states.
Political parties are required to submit a certificate with the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates to the Iowa Secretary of State's office 81 days before the general election.
Under the bill, challenges to presidential candidates would be limited to whether that certificate meets all the legal requirements.
"It would pretty clearly foreclose any challenge to a presidential candidate for being not qualified under the United States Constitution," Derek Muller, an election law professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School, said of the bill. "So it would be designed to foreclose a challenge like those filed in Colorado in Maine."
The former president, who won victories in Iowa and New Hampshire this month, is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024.
But Trump has faced challenges to his candidacy in several states, including Colorado and Maine, which have said he should be removed from their primary ballots under Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment that bars officials from holding office again if they "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Trump's appeal of the Colorado challenge, which revolved around his actions leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the court's decision could determine what happens in other states.
How would the Iowa bill limit ballot challenges for Trump?
The bill filed by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, would limit the grounds for any challenges to a presidential candidate in the general election.Political parties are required to submit a certificate with the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates to the Iowa Secretary of State's office 81 days before the general election.
Under the bill, challenges to presidential candidates would be limited to whether that certificate meets all the legal requirements.
"It would pretty clearly foreclose any challenge to a presidential candidate for being not qualified under the United States Constitution," Derek Muller, an election law professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School, said of the bill. "So it would be designed to foreclose a challenge like those filed in Colorado in Maine."
Iowa Secretary of State's bill would bar 14th Amendment ballot challenge for Donald Trump
The bill would also eliminate Iowa's requirement that candidates for Congress and president be disqualified if they have been convicted of a felony.
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