Washington: The United States Supreme Court has rejected an effort by Colorado to remove Donald Trump’s name from the state’s Republican primary ballot, delivering the former president a major victory as he seeks his party’s nomination.
The justices on Monday unanimously reversed a December 19 decision by Colorado’s top court to kick Trump off the ballot under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which includes a section that prohibits individuals from holding public office if they have participated in an insurrection.
Trump’s critics have accused him of inciting and supporting the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election, which Democrat Joe Biden won and Trump lost.
Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 US election. His only remaining rival for his party’s nomination is former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
“BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!,” Trump wrote on his social media platform immediately after the ruling.
The 14th Amendment’s Section 3 bars from office any “officer of the United States” who took an oath “to support the Constitution of the United States” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
“We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency,” the unsigned opinion for the court stated.
The justices found that only Congress can enforce the provision against federal officeholders and candidates.
Trump was also barred from the ballot in Maine and Illinois based on the 14th Amendment, but those decisions were put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Colorado case.
Trump’s eligibility had been challenged in court by a group of six voters in Colorado – four Republicans and two independents – who portrayed him as a threat to American democracy and sought to hold him accountable for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
The plaintiffs were backed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog group.
The ruling came on the eve of Super Tuesday, the day in the US presidential primary cycle when most states hold party nominating contests. As lawsuits seeking to disqualify Trump cropped up across the country, it was important for his candidacy to clear any hurdles to appear on the ballot in all 50 states.
The Supreme Court resolved the Colorado ballot dispute speedily, a timeline that stands in contrast to its slower handling of Trump’s bid for immunity from criminal prosecution in a federal case in which he faces charges for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. Trump’s trial has been put on hold awaiting the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision – a benefit for him as he campaigns against Biden.
