Galvin: Trump on track to be on the Mass. primary ballot, barring court orders

Former President Donald Trump will appear on the Massachusetts primary ballot unless a court orders otherwise, Secretary of State Bill Galvin confirmed Thursday.

"As a factual matter, his name will appear on the ballot unless or until someone orders otherwise," Galvin's office said in a statement. "That being said, the qualification and challenge process is still ongoing."

Objections to Trump's placement on Massachusetts' primary ballot can be filed until early January, the statement said.

On Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner, is ineligible to appear on the state's 2024 primary ballot. The divided court became the first to agree with an argument brought by left-leaning groups in several states that Trump violated the 14th Amendment through his words and actions before and during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Specifically, Section 3 of the constitutional amendment bars from office anyone who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States.  The court overturned a lower court ruling to declare Trump in violation of this clause and therefore disqualified from the March 5 ballot.

The court stayed its landmark ruling until Jan. 4, which will allow time for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case before Colorado must certify its ballot. If the case goes before nation's high court and is still in process by that date, legal experts told NPR Trump should appear on the ballot in Colorado. Trump's campaign has vowed to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

As NPR reported, the justices said the case wades into "uncharted" legal terrain, and many legal experts had long-expected such a challenge would reach the Supreme Court.

Justin Levitt, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School, told NPR the Colorado decision would not directly impact similar cases brought in other states. Lawsuits arguing to keep the former president off the ballot have already been filed in New Hampshire and Maine.

New Hampshire's secretary of state said previously he would not block Trump's name from appearing on the state's primary ballot, and many secretaries of state have said they cannot remove his candidacy from the ballot without court action.

In Massachusetts, the Boston Herald reported labor attorney and former attorney general candidate Shannon Liss-Riordan wants to drum up support to file a similar legal challenge against Trump here.

With reporting from NPR and New Hampshire Public Radio