The Supreme Court may soon make a pivotal opinion that will determine whether former President Donald Trump will be eligible to appear on Colorado’s presidential ballot, according to an announcement on the court’s website this Monday. With no explicit prior disclosure about which opinions they are likely to issue, speculation is rife that the Supreme Court will pronounce its stance on the Trump controversy before the Colorado voters head to the electoral polls on Super Tuesday.
Colorado’s ballots, already printed with Trump’s name, leave voter choices hanging in limbo until the Supreme Court hands down its ruling. In the event that the justices pronounce Trump ineligible to serve, votes cast for him would go unrecognized. The outcome also has bearing on the possibility of Trump’s appearance on general election ballots in November.
This ruling will set the precedent for similar challenges in other states. After a judge ousted Trump from the Illinois ballot, this decision was delayed to allow the former president to appeal.
The ongoing legal wrangle pertains to the interpretation of the “insurrectionist clause” under the 14th Amendment, wherein six Colorado voters contended that Trump’s incendiary remarks leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S Capitol were grounds for his disqualification. A range of justices, both conservative and liberal, expressed unease over this contention and appeared to lean toward Trump’s stance during arguments.
Information Box:
– The U.S Supreme Court is expected to pronounce a decision on Trump’s eligibility to run for president.
– Legal challenges hinge on the interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist clause.”
– A ruling could have nationwide implications on Trump’s candidacy in other states as well.
– While Trump’s name is already on Colorado’s ballots, votes may not be counted if he is declared ineligible.
The legal rationale for Trump’s removal from several state ballots is Predicated on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. These states argue that Trump’s instigation of the crowd leading to the January 6 Capitol riot constituted an act of insurrection against the U.S government. However, the justices seemed skeptical, with justices like John Roberts and Ketanji Brown Jackson countering the idea that a “handful of states” could dictate the outcome of an entire election.
These legal challenges targeting Trump stem from his conduct concerning the January 6, 2021 U.S Capitol siege. Trump, denying any engagement in an insurrection, has lambasted these lawsuits as attempts at election interference.
The court’s decision arrives just a day before the busiest day of the primary election season—Super Tuesday, where Trump and fellow Republican hopeful Nikki Haley vie for votes in more than a dozen states to secure the Republican presidential nomination.
This judgement follows in the wake of an Illinois judge ruling late in February that Trump is barred from the state’s primary ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause. Trump and his campaign have reproached past decisions to disqualify him from the 2024 Presidential ballot, with Trump’s spokesperson deeming Colorado’s ruling which excluded Trump a “left-wing group’s scheme” intended to provide favor to current President Joe Biden.
1. John Fritze, CNN
2. Zachary Folk, Forbes Staff
3. Natalie Venegas, Newsweek