A Washington state judge on Jan. 16 declined to take up a case to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s ballots, saying the challenge is in the wrong venue.
Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Bassett said that the suit needs to be brought in Thurston County, the location of the state capital city of Olympia. That’s also where Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’ office is located.
“Considering the litigants are seeking a statewide application, I do not believe Kitsap is the appropriate venue for this case,” Judge Bassett said, according to local media reports. “There are 39 counties in this state. Filing a separate action in every county could result in I don’t know how many different decisions.”
Like challenges in other states—including Maine and Colorado—the petitioners argued that the former president should be barred from appearing on state ballots because of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment’s Section 3, which excludes individuals who engaged in an “insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S. government.
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