Attorney General Alan Wilson Fights Back Against Efforts to Keep Trump off Ballot

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – Attorney General Alan Wilson joined a 27 multistate effort fighting against Colorado’s efforts to keep former President Trump off the 2024 ballot, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

“Simply, states do not have the power to keep Trump off the ballot. Period. These efforts are fueled by partisan politics and not the rule of law,” said Attorney General Alan Wilson. “If you don’t want to vote for Trump, then don’t vote for him. But based on major polls, there are many who do, and they should be able to cast their ballot for him without confusion and manufactured chaos.”

The multistate coalition believes the U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition to hear the case to avoid the inevitable and immediate chaos the Colorado decision will create, the Court should grant the petition to return power to Congress–where it actually belongs, and the Court should grant the petition to erase a standardless political judgment about what constitutes “insurrection.”

The brief argues, “With Colorado declaring former President Trump ineligible, and other courts rejecting similar challenges, conflict and chaos is already setting in. Voters who may wish to cast their ballots for former President Trump cannot know whether he ultimately will be excluded from the ballot in their State or others… So, will voters risk casting their votes for a candidate who might be later disqualified in some or all States? If they do, what becomes of their votes?”

The fallout from the Colorado decision is already happening. Recently, the Maine Secretary of State unilaterally kicked Trump off the ballot in that state. No single elected official has that kind of power.

The brief continues to explain the Constitution “specifies that a politically accountable body should publicly declare whether an ongoing disturbance of the peace constitutes a war, rebellion, or insurrection precisely because the lines between them are not always clear,” and that Congress has been entrusted with the power to declare war, call to suppress insurrections, and repel invasions with legislation. A post on social media from a congressman, or anyone else, does not equate to an act of Congress.

Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming along with the Arizona Legislature also joined the West Virginia- and Indiana-led brief.

Read the full brief here.