Supreme Court restores Donald Trump to Colorado ballot

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that states can not remove Donald Trump from ballots, following his actions over the attack on the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. 

The ruling was made based on the 4-3 decision by Colorado on December 19th, 2023, to remove the former president from the state’s Republican primary ballot. Colorado state judges cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to support their verdict. This anti-insurrection clause in the Constitution bars anyone who previously swore allegiance to the Constitution but thereafter “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from office. Colorado judges used the January 6th attack on the Capitol as evidence that Trump had incited the riot in a bid to stop Congress from formalising President Biden’s electoral victory in 2020. 

However, the Supreme Court has now overturned Colorado’s ruling, clearing the way for Trump to appear on the primary ballot across all states and  preventing other states, like Maine and Illinois, from following suit. The unanimous decision was issued just one day before Colorado’s presidential primary, concluding that only Congress had the power to enforce the provision and not states. With state versus federal rights at the heart of the case, tension among the justices arose regarding how far the ruling extends. 4 of the 9 justices agreed that while Colorado “can not enforce Section 3”, they “protest the majority’s effort to use this case to define the limits of federal enforcement of that provision”, claiming that the majority went too far by dictating how the insurrectionist clause should be used. 

 In a speech less than 3 hours after the ruling, Trump thanked the Supreme Court, saying the ruling would “go a long way toward bringing our country together” and posting “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!” on social media. However, the implications of this ruling could leave the door open for a renewed fight to disqualify Trump if he wins the election.