Election Map Shows States Where Donald Trump Faces Disqualification

Donald Trump has faced or is currently facing legal challenges that seek to remove him from the ballot in 32 states, with two having already barred his name from primary voters' consideration.

On Thursday, Maine became the second state to disqualify the former president on Thursday, preventing him from participating in its primary in March, after Colorado's Supreme Court decided to remove his name from the primary ballot last week. Neither state voted for Trump in 2020, but together they offer 13 Electoral College votes he is hoping to win in the 2024 presidential election.

The ruling in Colorado has already been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state's Republican Party has asked for an expedited process, arguing that the decision "poses a severe, immediate, and ongoing threat to the...electoral process throughout the country."

In response to the ruling in Maine, a Trump spokesperson vowed to challenge the decision, writing: "We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter."

Similar challenges have already been dismissed in five states, including key swing states such as Florida and Michigan, while lawsuits brought in 11 states—including California, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts—were withdrawn by the plaintiff.

For instance, in California, plaintiff John Anthony Castro dismissed his own case on December 7 following a motion by attorneys acting on behalf of Trump for dismissal. The former president's lawyers argued that Castro had not demonstrated that the U.S. District Court had the jurisdiction to make a determination on the matter.

Castro, himself a Republican presidential candidate who has run unsuccessfully for several elected offices in his home state of Texas, is responsible for many of the lawsuits, including all those that have been voluntarily dismissed.

He has previously said the "walls are closing in" on Trump, though legal experts have described the lawsuits as a "long shot."

Castro's lawsuits in Florida, New Hampshire and Rhode Island are among those to be dismissed by a judge. The successful challenge in Colorado was brought by the liberal group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, while the one in Maine was in response to three separate administrative challenges.

A further 13 cases that seek to remove Trump from individual states are still pending, including states with a large number of Electoral College votes, such as Texas, New York and New Jersey.

The lawsuits could pose a problem for the GOP primary front-runner in the coming election year, but they could also fall by the wayside if the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the appeal against the Colorado decision and subsequently sides with Trump.

A challenge brought in Arizona was dismissed by a judge at the start of December but has subsequently been appealed.

Those bringing the lawsuits argue that Trump's actions during the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol preclude him from being reelected. He has been accused of encouraging his supporters to storm the building and stop the electoral vote count, a claim he has refuted.

The lawsuits cite Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who swore an oath to the U.S. Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection" from running for elected office. There are legal debates over how to define insurrection and whether Trump's actions on January 6 amount to involvement in the riot.