The Colorado Department of State warned that it would be “a matter for the Courts” if the state’s Republican party withdrew from or ignored the results of the primary.

  • orclev@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    166
    ·
    11 months ago

    They seem to be rather missing the point. It wouldn’t matter if they switch to a caucus, he’s banned from running in the state so all they would do is exclude Republicans from having a candidate for president in the general election. This is very much in the “don’t threaten me with a good time” territory.

    • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      43
      arrow-down
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      They wouldn’t win the state anyway so being removed from the ballot is good for them - it makes challenging the nationwide legitimacy of the election easier.

      If Trump loses, it will help him to have Fox News (truthfully!) say that millions of people who wanted to vote for him were prevented from doing so.

      • protist@mander.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        41
        ·
        11 months ago

        I bet if Trump isn’t on the ballot in CO, there is a significant subset of his voters who would just not vote, with serious implications for down ballot races, especially in the House of Representatives. Think about how that would affect Lauren Boebert

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          14
          ·
          11 months ago

          Boebert is a lost cause. She only won by 500-odd votes, had almost conceded the race that night. After the latest scandal, she’s done.

          Might be another Republican, but it ain’t going to be Traitor Barbie.

      • agent_flounder@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        30
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        11 months ago

        So what. They don’t play by the rules. They will lie, cheat, steal, and incite insurrection no matter what rules are or aren’t followed.

        Trying to pander to these psychos is like trying to play a friendly game of chess with a chimp. You follow the rules, even let the chimp win but no matter what you do the chimp is just gonna throw the board across the room, throw shit at you, and then bite your face off.

        Anyway, the court ruled. Just like they did in FL during the Bush v Gore election. Let’s let SCOTUS do whatever they’re gonna do and go from there.

        If the GOP doesn’t like it, they can get fucked. Or let them start their CivIL WaR and let’s see how it turns out for 'em.

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          10
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          11 months ago

          Wish Democratic leadership had your backbone. The GOP went ape-shit crazy in 2006 when Obama took office. Downhill since then.

          Democrats have been too fucking dumb to realize they’re in a fight, getting their asses kicked and the rules are out the window. Fight back. Lie, cheat and steal. Why don’t they have their own propaganda arm like Fox?!

          FFS, win for once. Taking the high ground isn’t working, and won’t when the other side doesn’t recognize the rules.

          I’ll keep voting D, but I’m damned disappointed.

      • v1605@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        20
        ·
        11 months ago

        The greater concern to Republicans is that there are other issues people vote on when casting their ballot, not the just President. If their voters stay home, they could lose more than just the Presidency.

    • SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      11 months ago

      I think the point is that a caucus is overseen by the party, not the state. I still don’t know the legality of doing it at this late stage after the primary has been agreed to and will be set on Jan 5, but that’s their thinking.

      This is my favorite part though:

      Nevertheless, Williams told NBC News that the Colorado Republican Party would look to kick off the process of putting together a caucus in “the next week or two,” requesting a waiver to convert the system from the Republican National Committee. … “We’re figuring it out as we go,” Williams said.

      A whole week or two to put together a caucus.

      • orclev@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        15
        ·
        11 months ago

        You’re not understanding. They’re complaining about the primary so their solution is essentially to hold their own primary outside of state control, but he wouldn’t be able to run in the general election even if he wins their primary so it doesn’t matter. As things currently stand there’s only two possibilities, Trump loses the primary to someone else in which case things continue as normal, or Trump wins the primary in which case the GOP wouldn’t be able to run a presidential candidate in Colorado. Biden (assuming he’s the DNC candidate for the general election) would run unopposed in Colorado.

        Probably not earth shattering since he would likely win there even if Trump could run there, but if Trump isn’t on the ballot a certain percentage of GOP voters won’t bother going to the polls which will hurt the GOP in senate and congress races as well as on state votes.

        • DogWater@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          11 months ago

          Oh man your last point is important. I’m so low on confidence in the system that I’m nervous to rely on the government a tuallly excluding him from the ballot, but if he really is banned it’d be so awesome to watch gop officials freaking the fuck out as their turn out numbers drop like a meteor

        • Kiwi@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          11 months ago

          Especially because lauren boebert is in a very competitive down ballot primary race that trump not getting out the voters for will hurt. Her opponents are more centrist, standard Coloradan republicans

        • SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          11 months ago

          I haven’t seen a law stating that the secretary can keep a candidate legally nominated by the party off of the ballot. There may be such a law, but I haven’t seen it mentioned. The only law I’ve seen is the one allowing them to design the primary ballot based on their own determination of eligibility. I’d be happy to read anything you have about the same type of law applying to the general.

          • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            10
            ·
            11 months ago

            That’s assuming that such a nomination would be legal. I’m pretty sure most places have laws that say “you must be eligible for the office in order to stand as a candidate for it.” Colorado Republicans could nominate Justin Bieber, but that wouldn’t make him eligible to be President.

            • SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              11 months ago

              Not quite. The law is that the secretary cannot allow someone onto the primary ballot who is, in their opinion, disqualified. The ruling is that CO has the right to use that law to keep Trump off of the primary ballot.

              I don’t know whether that law also applies to the general election ballot, but the fact that the republicans think that they can pull it out of the state’s hands and do a run around with a caucus makes me think it’s about the primaries. I don’t think they can legally switch to a caucus mid race for other reasons, but if they do they think it’s a path.

              • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                11 months ago

                That’s the dispute right now. The argument is that the Constitution commands something, and all government officers and courts are sworn to follow it. It’s the same as the exclusionary rule. In the Constitution the 4th Amendment says “no unreasonable search and seizure.” Doesn’t say anything about the legal remedy or what to do when it happens.

                The Supreme Court held that the command implies the remedy, and the command must be followed by all officers and courts.

                The argument here is whether it’s like that, or whether the right is only vitiated if Congress passes a statutory framework to provide a remedy. It’s a dumb take and such a rule would effectively makes the Constitution meaningless.

                Doesn’t matter if it’s the primary or general. The secretary of State creates and distributes the ballots, she cannot put Trump’s name on it any more than a prosecutor could offer illegally obtained evidence. It is the prosecutor’s duty to follow the command of the Fourth Amendment, same as it is the secretary’s duty to follow the commands of the Constitution; she could not list someone on the ballot under 35 years of age, she cannot list an insurrectionist.