No, Congress isn’t printing election ballots without Donald Trump's name

In the comments section of a recent TikTok post with more than 7,000 responses, users vowed to write in former President Donald Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential election ballots they’ll cast.  

Why not just check the box for him? Because the post claims that Congress has announced he won’t be on the ballot. 

"Congress say they will start printing 2024 ballot without Trump name in October 2023," grammatically incorrect text in the video says. "Congress say Trump will not be on 2024 ballot if he win GOP." 

The TikTok also includes a clip of a Sept. 3 episode of "CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta."

But neither Acosta nor his guest — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson — claimed Congress plans to print ballots without Trump’s name. 

That’s because Congress never made such a plan.  

First, state and local administrators run elections. Congress doesn’t print election ballots.

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Second, Acosta and Benson were discussing the theory that Trump could be barred from a second term because "the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause expressly forbids anyone from serving who’s engaged in an insurrection or rebellion against the government."

"And is this something that you, in particular, your office, in particular, would have to wade into when it comes to putting names on the ballot in the state of Michigan, and have you made any kind of determination at this point?" Acosta said in the segment. 

Benson said her office was consulting legal scholars "on all sides of the spectrum," talking to colleagues in other states and would "likely ask our attorney general to weigh in."

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a Washington-based watchdog group, meanwhile, has filed a lawsuit to block Trump from the 2024 Republican primary ballot in Colorado on grounds it would violate the 14th amendment.

Some legal scholars say Trump’s actions could bar him from the presidency under the 14th Amendment. But there are plenty of obstacles to that actually happening, including concerns that it would be controversial among Trump’s supporters if he wins the Republican nomination.

Brian Kalt, a Michigan State University law professor, told PolitiFact the best-case scenario would be if "Trump is kept off the ballot in some state, he challenges that in court, and the case is quickly sent up to the Supreme Court, which then lays down some clear answers to these questions long before any votes are cast. But every step in that process is far from certain."

We rate claims Congress is printing ballots without Trump’s name False.