Colorado court ruled that former President Donald Trump cannot appear on the ballot in Colorado in next year’s presidential election because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters. This landmark decision is expected to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
With the passage of the 14th Amendment’s section 3, which forbade Confederate sympathisers from holding public office after the American Civil War, the action is perceived as a test run for a wider effort to remove Trump from state ballots.
According to the Colorado court, Trump’s involvement in inciting violence at the Capitol during lawmakers’ meeting to certify the results of the 2020 election prevents him from being allowed to run for office in 2024 as a Republican nominee under the U.S. Constitution. The decision was deemed unprecedented by the majority of the court.
Under a seldom-used clause of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits politicians who have participated in rebellion from holding office, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4–3, making Trump the first presidential candidate in American history to be declared ineligible for the presidency.
The decision could have an impact on Trump’s standing in the state come November 5th general election, although it only relates to Colorado’s Republican primary on March 5. Regardless of Trump’s performance in Colorado, nonpartisan U.S. election observers believe that the state will remain securely Democratic and that President Joe Biden will win.
The Colorado court said that it would postpone the implementation of its verdict until at least January 4, 2024, to allow for an appeal, and Trump threatened to take the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The ruling sets up the possibility of a Trump second term decision for the U.S. Supreme Court, which has three Trump appointees on its conservative majority of 6-3.
