Group presses Oregon secretary of state to block Trump from ballot
(Oregon Capital Chronicle) -- A group trying to block former President Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot in all 50 states ramped up pressure on Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade during Thanksgiving week.
Free Speech for People first contacted Griffin-Valade in July, less than two weeks into her term. Its latest letter asks Griffin-Valade to respond and indicate whether she’ll issue a temporary rule declaring Trump ineligible to appear on ballots in Oregon by Dec. 1.
“Your oath to support the Constitution, and the weighty responsibility entrusted to you by Oregon voters as Secretary of State, impel you to exclude Mr. Trump’s name from the list of ‘qualified candidates’ in the presidential primary,” the group wrote.
A spokeswoman for Griffin-Valade said she received the request and is reviewing it, and has nothing more to share at this time.
The advocacy group’s campaign rests on a rarely used section of the Fourteenth Amendment intended to prevent former Confederates from holding federal office after the Civil War. The amendment prohibits anyone who previously took an oath to support the U.S. Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” from holding any federal office.