Supreme Court to Rule on Trump’s Eligibility for 2024 Presidential Ballots

The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will decide whether former President Donald Trump can be excluded from the ballot in the upcoming 2024 presidential campaign due to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. The court recognized the urgency of reaching a decision quickly as primary ballots will soon be cast across the country. The case being taken up by the court originates from Colorado and is related to Trump’s involvement in the events leading up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Oral arguments for the case will be held in early February.

This will be the first time the Supreme Court considers the meaning and scope of a provision of the 14th Amendment that prohibits certain individuals who “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office. The amendment was ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, but it has rarely been utilized, resulting in the nation’s highest court never having interpreted it before.

Last month, Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled by a 4-3 vote that Trump should not be included on the Republican primary ballot based on the 14th Amendment. This was the first instance where the amendment was used to disqualify a presidential candidate. Trump is also appealing a ruling by Maine’s Democratic secretary of state, who deemed him ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot due to his role in the Capitol attack. Both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine secretary of state’s decisions are currently on hold pending the outcome of the appeals.

Although three of the nine Supreme Court justices were appointed by Trump, they have consistently ruled against him in lawsuits related to the 2020 election and in his attempts to withhold documents related to January 6 and his tax returns from congressional committees. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh, on the other hand, have been part of conservative-majority decisions that overturned long-standing constitutional rights regarding abortion, expanded gun rights, and eliminated affirmative action in college admissions.

Some Democratic lawmakers have called on Justice Clarence Thomas, another conservative justice, to recuse himself from the case due to his wife’s support for Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results. However, Thomas is unlikely to comply, as he has only recused himself from one other case related to the 2020 election. So far, those seeking to disqualify Trump from the ballot have not requested his recusal.

The 4-3 decision by Colorado’s Supreme Court cited a ruling by Justice Gorsuch when he was a federal judge in the state. This decision upheld Colorado’s removal of a naturalized citizen from the presidential ballot because he did not meet the constitutional requirements. The court concluded that Trump also fails to meet these qualifications due to his involvement in the Capitol attack. On that day, Trump had conducted a rally outside the White House, urging his supporters to “fight like hell” before they marched to the Capitol.

The relevant provision in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that anyone who took an oath to uphold the constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it is no longer eligible for public office. After Congress granted amnesty to most former confederates targeted by the provision in 1872, it fell out of use until this year when numerous lawsuits were filed to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot. The Colorado case was the only successful one.

Trump’s lawyers have asked the court to overturn the Colorado ruling without holding arguments. They argue that the decision would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters and set a precedent for disenfranchising tens of millions more nationwide. They contend that the events of January 6 did not constitute an insurrection, and even if they did, Trump himself did not engage in insurrection. They also assert that the insurrection clause does not apply to the president and that only Congress can take action, not individual states.

Critics of the former president who filed the lawsuit in Colorado, as well as many election law experts, agree that the Supreme Court should intervene and resolve the issue promptly. They argue that this case is of immense national importance, and with the upcoming presidential primary schedule, there is no time to delay. Lawyers for the Colorado plaintiffs have urged the court to expedite the case’s resolution so that voters in Colorado and elsewhere will know whether Trump is constitutionally ineligible when they cast their primary ballots.

Apart from the ballot issue, other matters related to Trump and the January 6 attack have reached the Supreme Court. Last month, the court declined a request to swiftly rule on Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution in a case accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. However, depending on a ruling by an appeals court in Washington, the issue could return to the court. The court has also announced its intention to hear an appeal that could impact numerous charges stemming from the Capitol riot, including those against Trump.

Riccardi reported from Denver.