Hawaii considers bill that could block Donald Trump from state's 2024 primary ballot

Jeremy Yurow, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
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The Hawaii Legislature is considering a Democrat-sponsored bill that could ban former President Donald Trump from its 2024 primary election ballot.

Hawaii state senator Karl Rhoads, who has harshly criticized Trump and the GOP for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, introduced the controversial bill earlier this week, which would ban candidates who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion as described in the third section of the 14th Amendment.

The House Jan. 6 committee’s final report, released last December, concluded that the former president engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, ending an 18-month investigation into Trump and the violent insurrection two years ago.

Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on December 19, 2023. An appeals court in Colorado on December 19, 2023 ruled Donald Trump cannot appear on the state's presidential primary ballot because of his involvement in the attack on the Capitol in January 2021.
Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on December 19, 2023. An appeals court in Colorado on December 19, 2023 ruled Donald Trump cannot appear on the state's presidential primary ballot because of his involvement in the attack on the Capitol in January 2021.

The proposed law, which doesn't explicitly name the former president, also would prohibit members of Hawaii's electoral college from casting their votes for a candidate considered disqualified under the 14th Amendment.

"The legislature finds that citizens of this State have the right to expect that public servants be people of integrity, and not people who have committed actions that threaten democracy or undermine the vote of the people," the bill reads.

More: A warning from Trump to the Supreme Court if he's not on Colorado ballot: 'chaos, bedlam'

The US Supreme Court is seen in Washington, DC, on June 16, 2023. The US Supreme Court agreed on January 5, 2024 to hear Donald Trump's appeal of a ruling by Colorado's highest court that would keep him off the presidential primary ballot in the western state. The conservative-majority Supreme Court, which includes three justices appointed by the former president, said it would hear oral arguments in the high-stakes election case on February 8. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

This move aligns with a broader trend as Trump encounters ballot challenges in more than 30 states, including Maine and Colorado, which kicked the former president off the primary ticket.

Trump has since appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and his name will remain on the ballot until the nation's highest court renders a verdict. Oral arguments in the Colorado appeal are scheduled to begin on Feb. 8, which could determine his eligibility for the ballot on a national level.

Related: 'We have sharp elbows': Nikki Haley braces for home-state dirty tricks in Trump fight

Jeremy Yurow is a politics reporting fellow based in Hawaii for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jeremy.yurow@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hawaii Senate advances bill targeting Trump's 2024 ballot eligibility