The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that former US President Donald Trump cannot be barred from Colorado’s primary ballot under the 14th Amendment.
Trump’s critics have said that he attempted to rig the 2020 presidential election, which Democrat Joe Biden eventually won, causing Trump to encourage and endorse the attack on the US Capitol building on 6 January 2021.
Supreme Court’s Decision
The Supreme Court stated in its ruling that “the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse.” The 14th Amendment prohibits individuals from holding US office, including the presidency, if they “have 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,” it clarified. “The responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates rests with Congress and not the States. The judgement of the Colorado Supreme Court therefore cannot stand,” the ruling said. “All nine Members of the Court agree with that result.”
In addition, if a candidate could be removed from the ballot in some states but not in others, the court warned of the chaos that would result from “conflicting state outcomes.” “Nothing in the Constitution requires that we endure such chaos – arriving at any time or different times, up to and perhaps beyond the inauguration,” the ruling stated.
⚡Supreme Court rules Trump cannot be removed from Colorado ballot.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 4, 2024
The state of Colorado cannot remove former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on March 4.https://t.co/2jgEKVeY1c
Meanwhile, the court’s three liberal justices, namely, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, concurred “only in the judgement,” while fearing that the decision could “insulate” Trump from “future controversy.”
However, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold expressed “disappointment” with the court’s ruling in a post on X. “Colorado should be able to bar oath-breaking insurrections from our ballot,” she stated.
“BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!” Trump said, hailing the unanimous ruling on social media.
Colorado’s Ban on Trump
During the Colorado primary election in September, four Republican and two unaffiliated Colorado voters petitioned against Trump. They claimed that after Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, he disrupted the peaceful transition of power by instigating crowds to breach the Capitol during Congress’s certifying meeting on 6 January 2021. The voters argued that, as a result of those activities, Trump is constitutionally ineligible to serve as President again.
A state district judge in Colorado presided over a weeklong trial before ruling in November that, while Trump “engaged in an insurrection,” he should remain on the ballot since the ban was not applicable to presidents. On a 4-3 vote, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the findings about Trump’s involvement in the US Capitol attack while also stating that the ban did, in fact, apply to presidents.
In addition to Colorado, Maine’s top election official reached a similar ruling that Trump is constitutionally barred from office. Subsequently, Trump appealed the ruling, but a state court halted those proceedings while the Supreme Court reviewed the Colorado case.
Trump Leads Republican Race
According to a Morning Consult poll, 82% of possible Republican primary voters support Trump, compared to the 17% supporting his only remaining challenger, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
The poll recorded that 79% of the party’s potential voters support Trump, while 19% oppose him. Haley is perceived favourably by 46% of likely primary voters, while 41% hold unfavourable opinions.
Per the poll, potential GOP primary voters were more likely to report hearing something positive (40%) about Trump than negative (34%). Meanwhile, potential Republican primary voters were much more likely to hear something negative (39%) than positive (24%) about Haley.
Biden Vs. Trump
A number of fresh 2024 presidential election polls share the common thread that Republican candidate Donald Trump is ahead of President Joe Biden.
The New York Times/Siena College, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and CBS News/YouGov all released different surveys over the weekend, with Trump leading registered voters by two to five points.
The Fox News and Wall Street Journal polls both showed Trump leading Biden by two points, 49-47 and 47-45, respectively. This scored within their 2.5% margin of error.
The CBS News/YouGov survey showed Trump leading by four points, 52-48, which was outside the poll’s 2.8% margin of error. Similarly, The Times/Siena poll showed Trump with a five-point edge, 48-43, which dropped outside the poll's 3.5% error range.