Former President Donald Trump has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling that disqualified him from the state’s GOP primary ballot. Trump’s legal team filed a 43-page petition in which they argued that the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling is not correct as it impacts voter’s rights. The Colorado Supreme Court had previously ruled that Trump was ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot in 2024 because he “engaged in insurrection” on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a 4-3 split, the majority of Colorado’s seven justices agreed that Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, rendered him ineligible for the 2024 ballot. However, the Colorado justices stayed their ruling until January 4, pending appeal, which is why the Colorado Republican Party asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the state court’s opinion. Trump’s legal team says the questions presented in their filing are of “utmost importance” given his status as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination and argue the Colorado decision “would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and likely be used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters nationwide.
The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump on the basis of the 14th Amendment – a move that has also been replicated in Maine and is subject to legal challenge. Trump’s team has successfully won eligibility battles in Michigan, California, and other states, but the issue has exacerbated tensions within the state and led to political debate across the country.
