The U.S. Supreme Court has released a decision overturning a legal ruling in the state of Colorado that found Donald Trump couldn’t run for President because of his involvement in the riots on 6 January 2021.
Some other state courts made similar rulings. This decision paves the way for Trump to appear on ballots across the country.
The Supreme Court ruled the decision was invalid because states can’t decide who can run in a national election — rather, the Court found this is a decision for the U.S. Congress.
2024 election
On 5 November, the U.S. will hold a Presidential election. It’s shaping up to be another showdown between Joe Biden (Democrat) and Donald Trump (Republican).
The two parties still need to choose their candidates in the long primary elections process, which will wrap up later this year.
Polling shows it’s very likely that Biden and Trump will re-contest the election.
6 January
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution forbids anyone who has previously held “civil or military office” and has engaged in “insurrections” (riots) from running for high office.
Trump is accused of engaging in an insurrection on 6 January 2021, when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try stop the certification of Biden’s win at the 2020 election.
The protesters echoed Trump’s false claims the election was “stolen” and “rigged”.
Colorado ruling
In the original Colorado decision, the legal questions that needed to be answered included:
Did Donald Trump hold “civil or military office” when he became U.S. President?
Did he engage in the riots during the 6 January 2021 insurrection?
Can courts remove someone from a political ballot?
Colorado’s court answered yes to all three, therefore making Trump ineligible to run in the state.
Trump’s lawyers escalated their appeal against Colorado’s decision to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the U.S.
Supreme court decision on Trump
The court – split 6-3 between Republican and Democrat-appointed judges – unanimously sided with Trump’s lawyers.
In its decision, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled “states have no power under the Constitution to enforce [this ban] with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency.”
It continued: “Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing [such bans] against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse [the Colorado decision].”
Reaction
In a statement after the ruling, Trump said it was a “very important decision”.
“They worked long, they worked hard and frankly, they worked very quickly on something that will be spoken about 100 years from now and 200 years from now, extremely important.”
In Maine, another state that had previously ruled Trump ineligible, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows reversed her decision, saying: “Consistent with my oath and obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and pursuant to the Anderson decision, I hereby withdraw my determination.”
