The appellate division of the New Jersey Superior Court has rejected independent presidential candidate Shiva Ayyadurai’s motion for an expedited appeal of his removal from New Jersey’s presidential ballot, likely dooming Ayyadurai’s efforts to make it onto the ballot this November.
Ayyadurai, who went to Livingston High School and now lives in Massachusetts, was born in India to Indian parents, which means that under the U.S. Constitution he is ineligible to serve as president. His candidacy was challenged by the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, and an administrative law judge deemed that he indeed does not meet the Constitution’s “natural-born citizen” requirement; Secretary of State Tahesha Way concurred with the judge’s opinion and removed him from the ballot.
Ayyadurai filed an emergent motion to appeal that decision, but the motion was rejected today, with the appellate division determining that the motion “does not concern a threat of irreparable injury.” The division also cited Ayyadurai’s own admission that he is not a “natural-born citizen” as a reason for denying the expedited appeal.
Appellate Judge Jessica Mayer did note that Ayyadurai “may file a motion with the Clerk’s Office in the ordinary course,” but a non-expedited court hearing will likely come too late for Ayyadurai to make the ballot, since New Jersey’s county clerks have already begun the process of designing their ballots without Ayyadurai on them.