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The question of whether Donald Trump is eligible to appear on Marylands Republican primary ballot is under consideration by the secretary of state, her office said Wednesday, one day after a Colorado court disqualified the former president from that states election.

Maryland Secretary of State Susan Lee, a Democratic former state delegate and senator from Montgomery County, has wide latitude under Maryland law to determine who is recognized as a legitimate candidate. She was appointed secretary in January by first-year Democratic Gov. Wes Moore.

Marylands primary is May 14, and the secretary must have the presidential primary ballot finalized by Jan. 22. Thats the deadline for the secretary of state to give me a letter to provide the State Board of Elections with Democratic and Republican candidates for the primary, said Jared DeMarinis, Marylands elections administrator.

Maryland election law says it is in the Secretarys sole discretion to determine, within party rules, whether a candidate is generally advocated or recognized and can be on the ballot.

A presidential candidate may also become eligible by submitting a petition with the signatures of at least 400 registered voters from each congressional district.

Trump, a Republican who lost his reelection bid for the presidency in 2020, is the leading contender for the GOP nomination next year.

In a 4-3 opinion, Colorados Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Trump is ineligible under a section of the 14th Amendment, Section 3, barring people who engaged in insurrection from becoming candidates. The section says candidates who took an oath to support the Constitution will be ineligible if they shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

In the ruling, which is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, the judges had to first consider whether Trump engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as the 2020 presidential election vote count was being finalized. Then the judges in the majority determined the amendment applied and state law barred him from the ballot.

The Supreme Court, as it should, will reject all these challenges, Maryland Republican Party Chairwoman Nicole Beus Harris said in a prepared statement Wednesday. The people have the right to decide, not a small group of biased judges.

Lees office hasreceived emails or letters from about 100 members of the general public on the general topic of keeping Donald Trump off the ballot, her office said in a Dec. 6 reply to a Public Information Act request filed by The Baltimore Sun.

The office confirmed in a November email and again Wednesday that the issue is under consideration by the secretary.

Lee was not available to be interviewed Wednesday, and DeMarinis said it would it be inappropriate for him to comment on how or whether the 14th amendment provision would figure in her decision.

The Colorado suit was filed in Denver in September by a group of Colorado Republican and independent voters assisted by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

According to The Associated Press, dozens of lawsuits challenging Trumps eligibility on similar grounds have been filed in several states, with no others succeeding so far. Among other cases with significant backing, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in November that Trump could remain on the ballot there because political parties have discretion over their primary ballots. And, AP reported, a Michigan judge has ruled that Congress should decide if Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies to Trump. That ruling was appealed Monday.

In its response to The Sun, Lees office declined to release five internal documents on grounds that they were privileged.

It did release correspondence from people writing, often passionately, urging Lee not to permit Trumps name to appear on the ballot.

Trump is an existential threat to our Democracy and must not serve in any elected capacity, wrote one Marylander on Aug. 29. Names of the writers were redacted.

We are aware of this issue, a Lee representative wrote back, thanking the Marylander for your thoughts on the matter.

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Will Donald Trump be on Maryland primary ballots in 2024? Secretary of state has broad discretion - Baltimore Sun