David Scanlan, the secretary of state of New Hampshire, is being pressed by lawmakers in his state to keep former President Donald Trump on the ballot for the upcoming primary election early next year.
The push from the group of lawmakers comes after some are attempting to have Scanlan remove Trump from the ballot, citing that he has violated the 14th Amendment.
In a letter sent to Scanlan through the Trump campaign, the legislators wrote:
“President Donald J. Trump is once again at the forefront of political attacks, this time by those who are attempting to disqualify the former President from appearing on New Hampshire’s primary ballot by weaponizing Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment against him.”
Last month, Scanlan and John Formella, New Hampshire’s attorney general, issued a joint statement that said they were both aware of the discussion that was taking place about whether the 14th Amendment would be applicable to Trump appearing or not appearing on the state’s primary ballot.
Some people have tried to argue that Trump could find himself disqualified from appearing on primary ballots, citing parts of the 14th Amendment. The argument centers around Section 3 of that amendment, which says that no one is able to hold an elected office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.”
Those who are arguing that Section 3 could be used are saying that Trump engaged in both rebellion and insurrection for his role in the January 6, 2021, attacks at the U.S. Capitol building.
But, while Trump has been indicted on federal charges relating to the January 6 attacks, none of the charges levied against him were for rebellion or insurrection.
Minnesota was the second state that saw an official legal filing that seeks to prevent Trump from appearing on the primary ballot there. Those who filed the argument on Tuesday are invoking Section 3 of the 14th Amendment as their reasoning.
But, the lawmakers in New Hampshire who wrote the letter to Scanlan said that argument is just “absurd conspiracy theory.”
They wrote:
“The opinions of those perpetuating this fraud against the will of the people are nothing more than a blatant attempt to affront democracy and disenfranchise all voters and the former president. These individuals who are seeking to deny voters to support their candidate of choice are nothing more than political pawns of the Left doing their bidding, which is disappointing since the Democrat Party has continually tried to strip New Hampshire of its First-in-the-Nation status.”
A few weeks ago, Scanlan told NBC News that he was “not seeking to remove any names from the presidential primary ballot, and I have not said that I am seeking to remove any names from the presidential primary ballot.”
The lawmakers referred to those comments in their letter, writing:
“We agree wholeheartedly and we should continue to empower voters, not disenfranchise them.”
