In a historic event, the Supreme Court has unanimously decided that Colorado cannot remove former President Trump from the ballot. The Supreme Court's decision is a clear and strong message to the states and their courts to completely stop attempts to unilaterally decide which candidates can and cannot appear on the ballot.
"States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency," the Supreme Court stated. This decision restores to the citizens of Colorado and, in general, to Americans, the right to elect the president they prefer.
The importance of a unanimous decision
It is unusual for the Supreme Court to make a unanimous decision, let alone with a divided court like the current one. So this decision is a clear message to the states and their courts not to taint the law with politics. Reading the court's published opinion, it is clear that it is not about the nine justices' assessments of what happened on Jan. 6 or Trump's actions, but about what the Constitution says about the power of the states to stop a presidential candidate from running.
The opinion released by the court reads: "responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates rests with Congress and not the States. The judgment of the Colorado Supreme Court therefore cannot stand. All nine Members of the Court agree with that result."
The decision comes just before Super Tuesday, the day Colorado holds its primary, record time for a Supreme Court decision. The ballots had already been printed with Trump's name, however, the Supreme Court's ruling was important in deciding whether the Republican candidate's votes could be counted as valid.
This case was resolved extremely quickly for the Supreme Court, which very decided to take up the appeal made by former President Trump immediately and heard arguments just a few weeks later on Feb. 8. It normally takes six months or more to begin hearing a case after it is accepted. The key point is that it's not about Trump, it's about Americans' right to elect a president.
A case with national implications
In doing so, the court's landmark decision puts an end to dozens of challenges that sought to halt Donald Trump's presidential run. In at least 36 states, Trump's candidacy has been or continues to be contested, with the potential to take away Americans' right to elect a president.
This decision has national implications. If the Supreme Court had decided to uphold Colorado's decision, or even if it had decided not to speak out on the matter, dozens of other states could begin making decisions about removing candidates from the ballot. That is why the Supreme Court took the Colorado case and made a ruling in record time.
This case began when the Colorado Supreme Court, one of the most liberal courts in the entire country, decided that former President Donald Trump should be removed from the ballot, as the justices of that court find that he participated in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. They ruled that under the 14th Amendment, he would be ineligible to be elected president. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has a clause that was written just after the Civil War to prevent former Confederates from serving in Congress. For many constitutionalists, this amendment has no relation to the position of president and was written for that particular moment in time.
