Trump tells Supreme Court to put 'swift and decisive end' to ruling keeping him off Colorado ballot

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, US (AA) - Former President Donald Trump urged the US Supreme Court on Thursday to reverse a decision in Colorado to keep him off of that state's ballot.

"The Court should put a swift and decisive end to these ballot-disqualification efforts, which threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and which promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado’s lead and exclude the likely Republican presidential nominee from their ballots," Trump's attorneys said in a brief submitted to the high court.

The decision to remove Trump from Colorado's presidential primary ballot was made by that state's Supreme Court on Dec. 19, 2023, which the former president's lawyers said was based on "a dubious interpretation of section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment."

The 14th Amendment prohibits a person from holding office in the United States if they "engaged in insurrection" after taking an oath to support the US Constitution, and the Colorado Supreme Court said Trump is constitutionally ineligible to run for office due to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol building.

"The Court should reverse the Colorado decision because President Trump is not even subject to section 3, as the President is not an 'officer of the United States' under the Constitution," Trump's attorneys argued. "And even if President Trump were subject to section 3, he did not 'engage in' anything that qualifies as 'insurrection.'"

Trump's lawyers highlighted the fact that more than 30 states are currently involved in efforts to remove the former president from both the primary and general election ballots based on Colorado's decision.

They continued that Trump should be on all ballots because it is a "fundamental principle of our representative democracy" and "the people should choose whom they please to govern them."

"The Court should reverse on these grounds and end these unconstitutional disqualification efforts once and for all," said Trump's attorneys.

The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Feb. 8 and the decision on whether to keep Trump off the Colorado ballot will likely set a precedent as to whether he will be able to remain on ballots in other states.

Trump was also removed from the Maine ballot, but that decision was also put on hold pending the outcome in Colorado.