In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was not on the ballot in ten states. Voters in South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Virginia could neither vote for, or against Honest Abe. I’m not certain that Colorado’s Supreme Court remembers how that turned out.
Lincoln was elected President with just 39.8% of the popular vote. Since the Republicans, at that time, were the third party, it was probably a bit easier to keep him off the ballot in those southern states – Colorado’s Supreme Court had to strain at defining the January 6 crap as an insurrection.
“The election of 1860 positioned the nation on the brink of fundamental change. A Republican win would end the South’s political dominance of the Union. Southerners had been President of the U.S. for two-thirds of the time since 1789, and none of the Northern Presidents had ever won reelection. Up to that point in American history, Southerners had also controlled the speakership of the House, the presidents pro tem of the Senate, and the majority of Supreme Court justices for most of the time. A Lincoln victory needed only the addition of Pennsylvania, plus either Indiana or Illinois, to the Republican list of states won by Frémont in 1856.
When the votes were tallied, Lincoln, who was not on the ballot in any Southern state, carried all of the North but one state in the popular vote.
Personally, I don’t see a lot of difference between Colorado’s Supreme Court taking Trump off the ballot, ten southern states taking Lincoln off the ballot, and 97% of Montana’s legislature voting to eliminate section 7 and get rid of write-in votes – Zooey Zephyr did a better job of supporting choice in elections than my representative and senator did.
California’s Secretary of State is looking for ways to keep Trump off the ballot – but he won’t get any electoral votes there anyway. Maine is looking at keeping him off. Michigan’s appeals court has ruled to keep him on.
2024 President – Sabato’s Crystal Ball shows only four states where the 2024 presidential election is a contest. Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia. Since it takes 270 electoral votes to win, the Republican candidate has to get three of those four states. Taking Trump off the ballot in those four states eliminates his chances of winning. There are several states that are listed as “Safe D” – since we have an electoral college, the Colorado decision really doesn’t make any difference. Now if Georgia made that call, it could be a game changer.
Lincoln was able to do all of his campaigning in the North. Trump can campaign in part of Nebraska, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia.
Click on the link – Sabato’s Crystal Ball does a good job of showing where our system is breaking down.
In 2010, P.J. O’Rourke published “Don’t Vote. It Just Encourages the Bastards”. As I think about our upcoming election – where the choice is limited to a crap sandwich or a crap salad – PJ’s advice looks better. If there’s an unopposed candidate – why encourage the bastard? Don’t vote. Even if the unopposed candidate is a friend – don’t vote. An unopposed candidate is, by present rules, going to win. Don’t encourage the bastard. Let him, or her, win with the smallest number of votes possible. If we don’t vote for the unopposed bastard, it might just encourage an opponent in the next election.
Trego's Mountain Ear 
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