Colorado Supreme Court Bars Trump From State Ballot Citing 'Insurrection'

The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that former President Donald Trump cannot contest for next year’s presidential election from the state’s ballot, citing an insurrection clause in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. constitution.

In a majority 4-3 verdict Tuesday, the court ruled that Trump was not an eligible candidate because he incited the Capitol riot insurrection.

The court reversed a ruling by a district court in November that the 14th Amendment’s insurrection ban does not apply to presidents.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruling also denied Donald Trump’s appeal on eleven issues, affirming that his actions on and leading up to January 6, 2021, are not protected by the First Amendment.

However, the verdict is subject to Trump’s appeal to the US Supreme Court. The court said that the ruling will be put on hold until January 4.

The Trump campaign said it would appeal against what it described as “a completely flawed decision” in the conservatives-dominated US Supreme Court.

“Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls,” Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said in a statement.

The case was brought on behalf of six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW.

“It is not only historic and justified, but is necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country,” CREW’s president Noah Bookbinder said in a statement.

This is the first time a presidential candidate has been disqualified or removed from a ballot under the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause.

January 6, 2024, will mark the third anniversary of the attack on the Capitol that disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that had convened to certify the election victory of Joe Biden.

Addressing a rally on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump demanded that the presidential election be overturned alleging widespread fraud, and called on his supporters to march to the Capitol building.

Hundreds of Trump-supporters had stormed the Capitol and disrupted the Congressional proceedings. Five people, including one woman shot by police, died in the rampage, apparently instigated by Trump.

A nine-member House select committee investigating the Capitol Hill attack said in its report that Trump had knowledge about the riot in advance, and that he engaged in a “multi-part plan” to overturn the result.

Although the Colorado Supreme Court decision is applicable only in the state, and does not stop the prominent Republican candidate from running in the other states, it could have a profound impact on the 2024 presidential campaign, reports say.

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