Washington, D.C. March 4, 2024 – The Supreme Court has unanimously overturned a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court that had barred former President Donald Trump from the state’s ballot.  You can read the unanimous decision HERE:

Trump v. Anderson, et al – Docket # 23-719 – Decision of the Supreme Court 3-4-2024

At the heart of the Colorado ruling was a lawsuit filed by state voters invoking Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. This section prohibits individuals who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the [United States], or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” from holding federal office. The contention centered on Trump’s actions leading up to and during the January 6, 2021 Capitol incident.

The Supreme Court’s opinion, issued collectively without individual authorship, was largely anticipated. During oral arguments, the conservative majority on the court posed skeptical questions that veered away from assessing Trump’s own status as an “insurrectionist.” Instead, they focused on broader questions, such as whether Section 3 of the Constitution applied to former presidents, whether such disqualification required congressional legislation, and whether it significantly disenfranchised voters.

Overall, the unanimous decision by the Supreme Court to overturn the Colorado ruling did not come as a surprise to court observers, given the tenor of the oral arguments and the complexity of the legal questions at hand.

This ruling will have far-ranging consequences as ballot challenges to Trump in other states have met with mixed results, mostly in Trump’s favor.  With today’s ruling, additional challenges are highly likely to fail, ensuring that Donald Trump will be on the ballot in all states during the primaries.