By The newspaper
04 Mar 2024, 10:11 AM EST
The Supreme Court decided to keep former President Donald Trump on the Colorado ballot, rejecting a state court’s decision.
The central argument of former President Trump and his lawyers is that a state cannot rule on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prevents former officials from holding government positions if they participated in acts of insurrection.
The nine judges of the Supreme Court agreed with that argument and clarified that only the federal Congress can make that decision.
“The responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officials and candidates rests with Congress and not the states. Therefore, the ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court cannot stand,” the opinion says.
The Colorado court was the first where it was determined that Trump did not participate in the presidential election, charging him with “insurrection” due to the attack on the Capitol in 2021.
Trump has also been excluded from the primaries in Illinois and Maine, but both decisions were awaiting the Supreme Court.
A unanimous decision
Although the justices offered different reasons, the decision was unanimous and marks the Supreme Court’s most direct intervention in an election since the decision Bush v. gorewhich resolved a dispute over votes in Florida and ultimately gave victory to George W. Bush, who served as president from 2001 to 2009.
On February 8, the Supreme Court judges held a hearing to hear the arguments of the parties on the Colorado case and even then they were reticent about the implications that Trump’s expulsion from the Colorado primaries could have at the national level. state, especially ahead of the November elections.
Both the most progressive and the most conservative justices expressed discomfort during their interventions with the idea of individual states interpreting a candidate’s constitutional eligibility for national office.
The ruling occurs without the judges having been present in court, since they do not plan to hold a hearing until March 15.
The magistrates have therefore heeded the pressures due to the tight electoral calendar and the requests of the Colorado Republican Party, which had asked them to act before ‘Super Tuesday’ which is celebrated tomorrow and in which 15 states hold primary elections, including Colorado.
In an unprecedented ruling, the Colorado Justice determined in December that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution disqualifies the Republican for the “insurrection” of the assault on the Capitol, when a horde of Trumpists attacked Congress to try to stop ratification of Biden’s victory.
Under the same argument, the electoral authorities of Maine also expelled Trump from the primaries and last week Illinois did the same.
With information from EFE
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