The United States Supreme Court said this Friday (5) that it will review the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to make former President Donald Trump ineligible for elections in the state.
The court scheduled oral arguments for February 8.
The decision to hear the case takes the nine judges into the middle of the conflicts of the 2024 presidential elections, on the verge of the first primary election disputes. It also represents the court's most significant involvement in a presidential race since it ruled 23 years ago in Bush v. Gore.
The Colorado Supreme Court's ruling last month essentially meant that federal judges had to take over the case and resolve the contentious question of whether Trump could be ruled ineligible.
Candidacy is at risk in other states
While the Colorado decision applies only to that state, courts in several other states have also weighed in on challenges to Trump's eligibility, although no such case has gone as far as Colorado's.
Last week, Maine's secretary of state barred Trump from participating in the state's 2024 primary election, and the former president's team appealed the ruling Tuesday in state court.
The Oregon Supreme Court could also soon rule on an attempt to make Trump ineligible in the state due to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection attack on the Capitol, underscoring the urgent need for judges in Washington to act quickly on the matter. Colorado case.
Understand the legal path
Colorado's decision is on hold pending the U.S. Supreme Court's resolution of the case, and the state's top election official faces a Friday deadline to certify the state's primary votes.
If the judges conclude that Trump is ineligible for public office before the Colorado primary, which will take place on March 5, any votes cast in his favor will not be counted.
Trump appealed the Colorado decision to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, a week after the state Republican Party also asked the justices to hear the case.
The 4-3 ruling last month underscored that Trump is constitutionally ineligible to run in 2024 because the 14th Amendment banning insurrectionists from holding office covers his conduct on Jan. 6, 2021.
“In our system of 'government of the people, by the people, [e] for the people,' Colorado's decision is not and cannot be correct,” the former president's lawyers wrote in their petition to the court.
“The Colorado Supreme Court erred in the way it described President Trump’s role in the events of January 6, 2021,” they argued in the lawsuit.
“It was not an ‘insurrection,’ and President Trump did not in any way ‘engage’ in an ‘insurrection,’” they highlighted.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
