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Lt. Governor Henderson: Placing Trump On The Ballot Would Violate Your Oath To The Constitution*
An open letter to the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah
Dear Lt. Governor Henderson:
When you took office as the duly elected Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah in 2021, you swore an oath to follow and support the United States Constitution. By law the Lieutenant Governor is the state’s chief elections officer. You oversee elections in Utah, including determining whether candidates qualify for their declared offices, a necessary condition to being placed on the ballot. Indeed, that is within your exclusive statutory province as Lieutenant Governor.
You would violate the law by permitting someone who is not constitutionally qualified for a declared office to be placed on the ballot.
Under Utah law, “[c]andidates for president of the United States who are affiliated with a registered political party that has elected to participate in the presidential primary election and who wish to participate in the primary election shall file a declaration of candidacy . . . with the lieutenant governor between August 15 of the year before the primary election will be held and 5 p.m. on December 1 of the year before the primary will be held.”