Washington — The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that former President Donald Trump is disqualified from holding the presidency under the Constitution’s so-called insurrection clause and ordered the secretary of state to exclude his name from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot.
The landmark decision from the Colorado Supreme Court that Trump cannot hold public office under the Civil War-era provision is unprecedented, and it marks the first time a court has found him to be ineligible to return to the White House due to his conduct surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The ruling does not apply outside of Colorado, and the state high court paused its decision until Jan. 4 — one day before the deadline for Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold to certify the candidates for the state’s March 5 primary.
“We conclude that because President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list President Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot,” the court’s majority wrote. “Therefore, the Secretary may not list President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot, nor may she count any write-in votes cast for him.”
Lawsuits challenging Trump’s candidacy have been filed in more than 25 states ahead of the 2024 election, though the Colorado case brought on behalf of six voters marks the most immediate threat to his campaign.
Trump is likely to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, setting up a high-stakes showdown over his eligibility to run just as voters in early states begin casting their ballots in the Republican primaries. In pausing its decision, the Colorado Supreme Court said that if review to the nation’s highest court is sought before Jan. 4, its stay will remain in place, and the secretary will be required to list Trump on the 2024 primary ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules.
The case adds to the ongoing legal issues facing Trump and his presidential campaign, including a criminal case related to the 2020 presidential election that is set to go to trial in March if allowed to move forward.
The Colorado case hinges on whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars Trump from the nation’s highest office. The provision aims to prevent those who swore an oath to support the Constitution and engaged in insurrection from holding state or federal office.
The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a lawsuit in Colorado state court on behalf of four Republican voters and two unaffiliated voters in September, arguing that Trump’s actions related to the Jan. 6 assault disqualified him under Section 3. Dozens of suits filed across the country have raised the same argument, though several have already been dismissed by state courts.
In November, a trial court in Denver found that the events on Jan. 6 satisfy the definition of insurrection, and concluded that Trump engaged in insurrection through incitement. Judge Sarah B. Wallace ultimately determined that the language of Section 3 is unclear as to whether it covered the presidency and the former president, and ordered Griswold to list Trump on the GOP presidential primary ballot.
The Colorado Supreme Court agreed to review the district court’s ruling, and held arguments in the case earlier this month. The justices weighed whether the events of Jan. 6 could be considered an “insurrection,” and, if so, one that Trump “engaged in.” They also considered whether the president is an “officer of the United States” under Section 3.
“If it was so important that the president be included, I come back to the question, why not spell it out?” Justice Carlos Samour asked. Section 3 does not explicitly list the presidency among the federal offices that an insurrectionist cannot hold.
Justice Richard Gabriel, though, asked, “How is it not absurd to say anybody who engaged in insurrection can’t serve in office except the president, or former president, or a vice president?”
Enacted in 1868, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment sought to keep former Confederate civil and military officeholders from serving in federal or state government, and was primarily invoked in the years after the Civil War. It has seldom been used in modern times, and never against a former president.
The Jan. 6 riot and allegations that Trump incited the attack, followed by his decision to seek a second term in the White House, led to lawsuits in more than half the states seeking to keep him off the ballots.
In Michigan, a judge ruled in November in part that it is up to Congress to determine whether Trump is disqualified from holding public office. The state court of appeals affirmed the lower court’s ruling last week, finding that the secretary of state’s role in the presidential primary is “chiefly that of an administrator,” and it’s the political parties and candidates that determine who to place on the primary ballot.
“Even if Trump were disqualified from holding the office of President of the United States by the Insurrection Clause, nothing prevents the Michigan Republican Party from identifying him as a candidate in the upcoming primary election,” a three-judge appeals court panel concluded. Michigan voters challenging Trump’s candidacy have appealed to the state supreme court.
In Minnesota, the state’s high court dismissed a lawsuit seeking to exclude Trump from the ballot for the Republican primary because it is an “internal party election to serve internal party purposes” and doesn’t automatically qualify the winner for the general election ballot.
The Minnesota Supreme Court said voters could, however, pursue their case regarding the general election ballot after the state’s March 5 primary.
