Maryland Secretary of State Susan Lee reiterated her office’s consideration about whether to remove former President Donald Trump from the primary election ballot while at MoCo360’s Women Who Inspire Luncheon in Bethesda on Thursday. She said a decision whether to remove him from the ballot would be made by January.
This comes as election officials across the country discuss whether to bar Trump from election ballots in the upcoming 2024 primary elections lieu of a clause in the Constitution that bars candidates who have aided an “insurrection” from office.
“I am very aware of that issue, and the issue is under consideration right now,” Lee said. “I probably have to make a decision by Jan. 22. And I am right now working with my team and my legal team too because we want to do this right, and we want to make sure it’s fair.”
This comes after The Daily Record reported last week that Lee said in an email that barring Trump from being listed in the primary election ballots was “under consideration” in Maryland.
In Maryland, candidates running in congressional, state and local races must file a certificate of candidacy with the State Board of Elections to be included on the ballot. However, candidates who are running for presidency must be designated by the Office of the Secretary of State for their name to appear on ballots, according to Maryland.gov.
“This is done when the Secretary has determined that the candidate’s candidacy is generally advocated or recognized in the news media throughout the United States or in Maryland and in accordance with party rules,” the website says.
Now, a new consideration–whether a candidate qualifies if they have aided an insurrection–is being factored into the Secretary of State’s role in designating presidential candidates.
“You’ll hear from me very shortly,” Lee said about the decision. “I probably will be issuing a statement in the near future.”
The primary election will be on May 14 and early voting for the primary election runs May 2 through May 9. The general election is on Nov. 5 and early voting for the general election starts Oct. 24 through Oct. 31.
There are 13 Republican candidates, including Trump, running for president and three Democratic presidential hopefuls, with President Joe Biden running for reelection.