Political activist organizations Free Speech for People and Mi Familia Vota are writing to state officials and planning rallies this week in California, Oregon, Colorado, and Georgia, to urge the exclusion of former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment due to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
"Since 1868, the qualifications for eligibility for the presidency — in addition to natural-born citizenship, age, and residency — have also included not having engaged in insurrection against the United States after having taken an oath to support the Constitution," groups wrote in a joint letter to Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar June 28. "And Trump does not meet that qualification."
According to the organizations, Trump is "disqualified" from running in 2024 under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, known as the "Insurrection Clause."
The Civil War-era clause bars anyone "who has taken an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and then engages in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or gives aid or comfort to its enemies" from holding a public office, according to the organizations.
The groups argue in the letter to Aguilar that states do not need congressional permission to enforce the clause, brought about during the Reconstruction period of U.S. history, and that two other states, Georgia, and New Mexico, heard complaints about candidates for office involved on Jan. 6 during 2022.
"The evidence is overwhelming that Donald Trump incited and mobilized the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, at our nation's Capitol," Alexandra Flores-Quilty, campaign director for Free Speech For People, said. "The U.S. Constitution is clear that anyone who takes an oath of office and then engages in insurrection is forever barred from holding public office again. Secretary Aguilar must carry out his duty, follow this constitutional mandate, and bar Trump from the ballot."
According to the organization's website, "Free Speech For People, a national nonprofit nonpartisan organization, is a catalyzing leader in the country challenging big money in politics, confronting corruption in government, fighting for free and fair elections, and advancing a new jurisprudence grounded in the promises of political equality and democratic self-government."
Mi Familia Vota's website said it "is a national civic engagement nonprofit organization that unites Latino, immigrant, and allied communities to promote social and economic justice through citizenship workshops, voter registration, and voter participation. Mi Familia Vota has operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas."
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