As the upcoming presidential election rapidly approaches, and voters are bracing themselves for a tension-provoking rematch between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, some states are pushing to remove Trump from the ballot entirely. This unconstitutional attempt to remove a candidate is blatantly political, and should be opposed.  

In the state of Colorado, in a 4-3 ruling by individuals all appointed by Democratic governors, a vote that was swiftly overturned to comply with the Supreme Court’s ultimate ruling, pushed forward propositions to remove Trump from the presidential election ballot. It is a stark contrast to Democrats’ frequent messaging about the preservation of democracy.

Removing Trump from the ballot disenfranchises his millions of voters while simultaneously bolstering the notion that he is under attack by the many levers of those in power, referred to as the commonly-coined “deep state.”

Whether these attempts prove to be successful or unsuccessful in practice remains to be seen as the Supreme Court heard the case Feb. 8, with many justices appearing to be skeptical of the constitutionality of Trump’s removal. The basis for the attempts to remove Trump from the ballot is based on the 14th Amendment. It was added to the Constitution with the purpose of preventing people who have participated in an insurrection against the United States from holding political office. The problem is Trump was never convicted of an insurrection.

Even if Trump remains on the ballot, the proposal for removing him still introduces a worrisome and alarming standard for how the already divided political landscape operates; one that is contrary to the democratic process. It is a new paradigm that is far broader than Trump as it establishes an uncontrolled political norm whereby candidates of both parties weaponize the judicial system to artificially weaken their opponents.

Provisions were proposed by Republican lawmakers in the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona in December to remove Biden in an attempt to fight back – a clear example of how this further divides the hectic political sphere. As a nonpartisan voter who is vehemently opposed to the apparatus that leads to division and sometimes uninformed voters, known as the two-party system, I do not support the removal of Trump or Biden from the ballot. I believe voters must be able to determine the outcome of the election in a free and fair setting.

This unnecessary polarization allows the many burdens Americans are facing to exacerbate. Wealthy politicians, who are not impacted by issues such as hyperinflation, high gas prices, rising crime rates and increasingly heated foreign tensions, among others, appear to fight to seize power and stop others from taking their seats; effectively not devoting energy to providing solutions to the problems concerning the majority of America.

When 65% of Americans are currently living paycheck to paycheck, is the real issue which candidate should be removed from the ballot by a small number of people in power, or should we as a country put partisanship aside to improve the standard of living for Americans?