Trump ballot challenge decided by Colorado Supreme Court

The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that former President Donald Trump cannot appear on the state’s ballots for the 2024 election due to his incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, reversing a lower court ruling.

But the state Supreme Court stayed its ruling from taking effect until Jan. 4, “subject to further appellate proceedings.”

The ruling is the first time a state court has agreed that Trump, who is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, should be barred from ballots in a state because of a U.S. constitutional provision barring people who have engaged in “insurrection” from federal office.

Courts in Minnesota and Michigan have rejected similar suits challenging Trump’s placement on the presidential ballot, but the issue is continuing to be litigated in a number of states.

A group of six Colorado voters in September sued to block Trump from state ballots in 2024 because of a claim he was barred due to a provision in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

That provision, Section 3, says that “no person” can serve as an officer of the United States who, having previously taken an oath of federal office, “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S.

The suit claimed that Trump’s incitement of the Jan.. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters was an act of insurrection.

The riot disrupted for hours the confirmation of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Trump had pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to refuse to accept the Electoral College results in Biden’s favor at that proceeding.

In November, Denver District Court Judge Sarah Wallace ruled that Trump could appear on the ballot, even though she believed he had “engaged in insurrection” by inciting the riot.

Wallace said Trump’s name should be on the ballot because the office of president is not subject to Section 3.

Wallace’s ruling was appealed by the plaintiffs, and also by Trump, who objected to her finding that he had engaged in insurrection.

The Colorado Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on Dec. 6.

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