The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday that state election officials must include long-distance presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) on the state’s Democratic primary ballot.
In a unanimous decision, the court found that the bipartisan presidential nominating committee responsible for approving candidates for Wisconsin’s April 2 primary “did not discuss Phillips” while stamping President Biden’s name on the ballot during a brief January meeting.
“The two party chairmen listed the names of the candidates their respective parties were looking for to be listed in the presidential election ballot. The chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin just listed Joseph Biden’s name to be placed on the Democratic presidential primary ballot. Without any discussion, the Election Committee unanimously accepted the motion to put the name submitted by the party chairman on the ballot,” said the court’s opinion.
“The Nomination Committee did not hold discussions about Phillips or any other major Democratic presidential candidate. The entire meeting lasted just over five minutes.”
The Minnesota Democrat launched his primary campaign against Biden last October. AP
Wisconsin statute requires that “all candidates whose candidacy is generally supported or recognized in the national news media throughout the United States” be placed on the primary ballot.
Phillips, 55, launched his insurgent presidential campaign last October, and has made several appearances on national news programs since then.
He received less than 20% of the vote in last month’s New Hampshire primary, in which Biden, whose name did not appear on the ballot because of a calendar dispute between the Democratic National Committee and state officials, won as his supporters did a write-in campaign.
The court found that Wisconsin’s election committee never discussed Phillips’ candidacy, as required by law. Amanda Sabga/UPI/Shutterstock
“We conclude that the Presidential Nomination Committee erred in exercising its discretion under (state law) with respect to Phillips,” the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled, also finding that there was no evidence to suggest that it was too late to add the Minnesota Democrat’s name to the primary ballot. .
At the same meeting, the election committee also placed former President Donald Trump and five other Republican challengers, including four who have suspended their campaigns, on the ballot.
Phillips has accused the DNC of trying to obstruct the presidential primary process by altering the Democratic primary schedule, refusing to hold debates, and preventing the involvement of delegates from New Hampshire.
“I don’t know how to put this effort better than, yes, a threat to democracy by undermining it and suppressing it,” Phillips told The Post last month.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
