The U.S. Supreme Court will take up the matter of whether former President Donald Trump can be blocked from appearing on the 2024 primary ballot in Colorado.
Oral arguments are scheduled for February 8.
Trump has been trouncing the rest of the GOP presidential primary field in polls, but last month, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling declaring that the secretary of state should not include the former president on the primary ballot. Three justices dissented.
The move to bar Trump from the ballot is based on the notion that he supposedly engaged in insurrection on January 6, 2021, and because of that, is supposedly disqualified from seeking the presidency under Section Three of the 14th Amendment.
GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has asserted that Section Three of the 14th Amendment does not apply to the president.
The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision stated, “[W]e conclude that because President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list President Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. Therefore, the Secretary may not list President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot, nor may she count any write-in votes cast for him.”
“But we stay our ruling until January 4, 2024 (the day before the Secretary’s deadline to certify the content of the presidential primary ballot). If review is sought in the Supreme Court before the stay expires, it shall remain in place, and the Secretary will continue to be required to include President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot until the receipt of any order or mandate from the Supreme Court,” the ruling read.
Three of the justices currently sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — were nominated by Trump during his White House tenure.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has moved to block Trump from the primary ballot in that state.
In her ruling, she said that there was “sufficient evidence to demonstrate the falsity of Mr. Trump’s declaration that he meets the qualifications of the office of the presidency. Therefore, as required by 21-A M.R.S. § 336(3), I find that the primary petition of Mr. Trump is invalid.” She also noted, “I will suspend the effect of my decision until the Superior Court rules on any appeal, or the time to appeal under 21-A, Section 337 has expired.”
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