Colorado removing Trump from the 2024 Ballot

On December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court made a 4-3 majority decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot. The reasoning is due to Trump’s conduct with the events dealing with the capitol on January 6th and it being declared as insurrection. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits someone from holding any office under the United States if they “engaged in insurrection” after taking an oath to support the Constitution. This section was ratified after the Civil War to originally prevent Confederates from taking office; however, was never brought up until anti-Trump plaintiffs agreed that the events of 1/6/21 fell under insurrection. This decision, due to this clause, disqualifies Trump from holding the presidency for a second term.

The Guardian states that on January 3, 2024, Donald Trump appealed this decision to the US Supreme Court. During Wednesday’s filing, his lawyers claimed that only Congress (not the Courts) has the authority to decide the eligibility of a presidential candidate; Trump was not an official “officer” which is relevant wording if discussing inciting an insurrection; Trump didn’t conduct an insurrection on 1/6/21; and the Colorado’s Supreme Court decision exercised more powers than they are given in the constitution.

A quote from Trump’s lawyers from CBS News: “The question of eligibility to serve as President of the United States is properly reserved for Congress, not the state courts, to consider and decide,” and “By considering the question of President Trump’s eligibility and barring him from the ballot, the Colorado Supreme Court arrogated Congress’ authority.”

Trump’s appeal came after the Colorado Republican Party and the challengers asked the justices to take the case.

Colorado isn’t the only state that decided to take Trump off the ballots; Maine made the same decision to remove Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot. In Maine, Trump is appealing Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’s (Democrat) decision in state court. While both Colorado and Maine have made these decisions, both decisions are currently on hold until the Supreme Court takes action. This means that Trump’s name will continue to be on the ballot until further notice.

All parties (Trump, Maine, Colorado, etc) agree that this case should be heard by the Supreme Court. In a statement from The Hill, Steven Cheung (Trump’s campaign spokesman) said: “We welcome a fair hearing at the Supreme Court to argue against the bad-faith, election-interfering, voter-suppressing, Democrat-backed and Biden-led, 14th Amendment abusing decision to remove President Trump’s name from the 2024 ballot in the state of Colorado.”

The Supreme Court has agreed to take up the case and there will be a trial with oral arguments set up for February 8, 2024, The Hill discloses.

Background and Implications

The Colorado Supreme Court is composed of seven judges who were all appointed by Democratic governors. The Court had decided on this case after 4 Republican and 2 Independent voters (backed by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)) filed a lawsuit to remove Trump from the ballots where the Court sided with them.

The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. This has raised some legal questions and possibly big implications for the 2024 presidential election. CBS News adds that some even compare this to the 2000 election where the Supreme Court had a hand in President George W. Bush winning after Bush V. Gore.

This case marks the first time a presidential candidate was marked ineligible to run for office due to the insurrection clause meaning that the Supreme Court’s decision might set a future precedent for cases relating to insurrection. This case also has the possibility of upending the upcoming presidential election (ex. Removal of Trump from all state ballots).

From The Hill: “President Trump is dominating the polls, and the Biden presidency has failed all Americans,” Cheung insisted in his statement. “We are confident that the fair-minded Supreme Court will unanimously affirm the civil rights of President Trump, and the voting rights of all Americans in a ruling that will squash all of the remaining ballot challenge hoaxes once and for all.”