In a bombshell decision, Colorado’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that former President Donald Trump’s candidacy in the state’s primary next year is prohibited on constitutional grounds.
“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the ruling said. “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”
The court put its decision on hold until Jan. 4 to allow for further appeals.
The first-of-its kind ruling stems from a lawsuit that focused a little-known provision in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Similar challenges in other states have proven unsuccessful.
The decision from Colorado’s high court reverses a lower court‘s ruling that said Trump had engaged in insurrection by inciting a riot on Jan. 6, 2021, but that presidents are not subject to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment because they are not an “officer of the United States.”
The state Supreme Court agreed that Trump had engaged in insurrection, but rejected the lower court’s finding that the president is not an officer of the country that elected him.
Section 3 of the Civil War-era 14th Amendment says: “No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States … who, having previously taken an oath … as an officer of the United States, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Trump, who has called the efforts to keep him off the ballot “nonsense” and “election interference,” is likely to try to appeal Tuesday’s Colorado ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Courts have ruled against similar efforts to get Trump banned from the ballot in Arizona, Michigan and Minnesota. The plaintiffs challenging Trump’s eligibility in Michigan filed an appeal to that state’s high court on Monday.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
