The Republican Party of Colorado says it has asked the Supreme Court to keep Trump on the ballot
The Republican Party of Colorado said yes asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear an appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s bombshell decision ordering the removal of former President Donald J. Trump from the state’s primary ballot. The state court ruled that he was ineligible to hold office because he was guilty of insurrection.
The justices are likely to agree to hear the case, given the importance of the question it poses and the need for a national response to it.
The filing of the petition seeking review of the state court ruling also had a practical impact, extending a stay imposed by the Colorado court while the justices considered the case. That means Mr. Trump will remain in the primary ballot for now.
Trump is expected to file his own petition in the coming days. A lawyer for the former president declined to comment and his campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The party’s petition said the U.S. Supreme Court’s intervention was urgent.
“Unless the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision is overturned, every voter will have the power to disqualify any political candidate, in Colorado or any other jurisdiction that follows its lead,” the petition said. “This will not only distort the 2024 presidential election, but will also screw up the courts going forward in political controversies over vague charges of insurrection.”
The petition added that “the catastrophic consequences of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision are already being predicted in pending and recently decided cases seeking to deny President Trump access to the 2024 elections.”
The case concerns Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, passed after the Civil War. It prohibits those who have taken an oath to support the Constitution from holding office if they have subsequently “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Congress can lift the ban, the provision says, but only with a two-thirds majority in each chamber.
With 4 to 3 votes, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in December that the provision applied to Mr. Trump, making him ineligible for another term.
“We do not come to these conclusions lightly,” the majority wrote. “We are aware of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are also aware of our solemn obligation to apply the law, without fear or favour, and without being influenced by public reactions to the decisions that the law requires us to make.”
The party’s petition contained three main points: that Section 3 does not apply to the presidency, that only Congress can enforce it, and that the state court’s decision violated the party’s First Amendment rights.
“The Republican Party has been irreparably harmed by the decision below,” the petition said. “The state interfered in the primaries by unreasonably restricting the party’s ability to select its candidates.”
The petition added that the state court ruling was “based on a subjective claim of insurrection over which the state has no constitutional authority whatsoever.”
In a statementTwo attorneys for the party — Jay Sekulow and Jordan Sekulow — urged the justices to take swift action. “There is an avalanche of similar cases being filed across the country,” they said, “so a final and speedy review by the Supreme Court in this case is essential.”