Former President Donald Trump is suing Michigan’s top election official over efforts to keep him off the state’s ballot in 2024.
According to a complaint filed this week, Trump is asking a state court to block Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from leaving his name off a list of candidates that would appear on 2024 presidential ballots and to declare she does not have that authority in the first place.
A spokesperson for Benson declined to comment.
Trump’s lawsuit also states that his campaign has not received a response to a letter it sent to Benson requesting confirmation that his name would appear on her list of candidates for the Republican primary.
“The Secretary’s failure to respond is creating uncertainty, which impacts how President Trump will allocate resources,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “This uncertainty is compounded by the fact that Secretary Benson is an active member of the opposing major political party and has publicly weighed in with her negative views of President Trump.”
The lawsuit comes after legal challenges were filed in Michigan seeking to keep the former president off the primary and general election ballots in the state, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment says in part that no person shall hold any office who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after having taken an oath to support the Constitution.
The lawsuits against Trump argue that he violated his oath in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol as part of a broader effort to overturn his election loss.
Similar challenges to Trump’s eligibility as a 2024 presidential candidate have gained momentum in other states, with top election officials in Arizona, Minnesota, New Hampshire and others weighing concerns like the ones raised in Michigan as they prepare state ballots for next year’s Republican presidential primaries.
On Monday, a state court in Denver began hearing arguments stemming from a lawsuit filed on behalf of six voters seeking to bar Trump from Colorado’s 2024 ballot, citing the Capitol riot.
Trump has dismissed efforts to remove his name from ballots, calling them “nonsense” and “election interference.”
