Salem, OR, December 29, 2023— In a massive effort to prevent American voters from freely exercising their right to select a presidential nominee of their choice, political activists have turned to state officials and to the justice system to try to eliminate a popular opponent from the primary ballot. After the Colorado Supreme Court removed former President Donald J. Trump from the Colorado ballot, Maine’s Secretary of State followed suit on Thursday, disqualifying him from Maine’s ballot. To date, 35 lawsuits have been filed around the nation to ban the former President from the ballot. Most cases have been filed by John Anthony Castro and his ironically named Free Speech for People, a group founded by Democrat political activist John C. Bonifaz and run by Democrat political campaign consultant Ben Binswanger. Thirteen cases have been withdrawn by the plaintiff, six have been dismissed by the courts for lack of standing, and thirteen are pending, including the case filed in Oregon.
The Oregon lawsuit was filed after the Oregon Secretary of State, Democrat LaVonne Griffin-LaValade, concluded that “Oregon law does not give me the authority to determine the qualifications of candidates in a presidential primary.” The premise of these suits is that the former President is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which disqualifies a candidate who “having previously taken an oath…to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same…”
While former President Trump has been charged with a number of alleged crimes by Democrat attorneys general and by Special Counsel Jack Smith, he has neither been charged with nor convicted of insurrection. Ironically, the partisan mantra “protect our democracy” echoes throughout these cases, while the lawsuits themselves are designed to use the justice system to eliminate a democratically elected political opponent who poses a viable challenge to a weak and unpopular President.
The ORP will continue to stand for the rights of American voters to free and fair elections. We will not stand by silently while political activists pervert our justice system to mute the voices of American citizens. The USA must never allow partisan interference in our elections to threaten our reputation as a beacon of freedom among the nations of the world. Our elections must be a true expression of the will of the American people.