WV Reaction: Supreme Court sides with the voters!

Charleston, W. Va. – In a unanimous decision released this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overturned a Colorado Supreme Court decision to prevent former President Donald Trump from being a presidential candidate in their state. Two other states, Maine and Illinois, have made similar improper decisions by declaring that the former President is ineligible to seek office in their states. Today’s SCOTUS decision stops all such attempts, commonly referred to as “lawfare,” to keep former President Trump off state ballots.

The opinion was unanimous and settles the issue of whether state officials have the authority to interpret and enforce federal law against candidates for federal offices. They do not.

WV Secretary of State Mac Warner, along with several other secretaries of state, filed an amicus brief with SCOTUS arguing that secretaries of state should not be found to possess judicial authority to interpret and apply federal law in the context of candidate eligibility for federal office.

WV Secretary of State Mac Warner and several other secretaries of state who filed an amicus brief to support neither candidate in the SCOTUS case traveled to the U.S. Supreme Court during the National Association of Secretaries of State's (NASS) winter conference i​n D.C. on the day of the oral arguments to appear in their official capacity as amici. The amicus brief informed the court that secretaries are not judicial officers and shouldn't be allowed to kick federal candidates off a federal ballot.

Pictured from left to right: Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales, WV Secretary of State Mac Warner, Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston and Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen.

"It should be the voters, not a secretary of state or state court, to decide who can seek federal office, especially the presidency of the United States," said Secretary Warner. “The Colorado Supreme Court got it wrong, and SCOTUS made it clear to all other states attempting similar inappropriate actions that neither secretaries of state nor state courts have authority to remove federal candidates from a ballot.”

"President Trump's name will appear on the ballot in West Virginia. The Supreme Court's unanimous decision upheld the voters’ right to choose their presidential nominee in an election,” Warner said. “This ruling should settle this matter nationally once and for all. I look forward to administering the election rather than being distracted by these unlawful and unconstitutional acts by other states and executive branch officials.”