NORFOLK, Va. — Two voters from Hampton Roads are joining the effort to take former President Donald Trump off of the ballot in 2024.
The federal lawsuit cites the 14th Amendment, which says anyone who engages in insurrection or rebellion cannot run for office.
The two Virginians argue that means Trump shouldn't be on the ballot in Virginia because of his alleged role in the January 6th Capitol attack that attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Another group filed a similar suit on Thursday to remove Trump from the primary ballots in Colorado.
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) told ABC News last weekend that he thinks there's a strong argument for the case.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, helped ensure civil rights for freed slaves — and eventually for all people in the United States. But it also was used to prevent former Confederate officials from becoming members of Congress after the Civil War and taking over the government against which they had just rebelled.
The clause cited in the lawsuit allows Congress to lift the ban, which it did in 1872 as the political will to continue to bar former Confederates dwindled. The provision was almost never used after that.
The clause cites “presidential electors” but not presidents themselves as being disqualified if they previously swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and then broke it.
The 14th Amendment was used last year to bar from office a New Mexico county commissioner who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. That was the first time it was used in 100 years. In 1919, Congress refused to seat a socialist, contending he gave aid and comfort to the country’s enemies during World War I.
Another liberal group, Free Speech For People, unsuccessfully tried to use the provision to prevent Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina from running for reelection last year.
The judge overseeing Greene’s case ruled in her favor. Cawthorn’s case became moot after he was defeated in his primary.
The former president has not been convicted or faced trial for his indictments related to January 6. That court date is set for March 4, 2024, but Trump has vowed to appeal that trial date.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.