The Colorado Republican Party has formally petitioned the United States Supreme Court to overturn the unprecedented decision by the state Supreme Court that disqualified Donald Trump from the 2024 Colorado ballot.
As a participant in the case, the Colorado GOP is vigorously defending its right to include Trump in the upcoming March primary ballot.
Trump is expected to file his appeal soon.
The appeal extends the state court’s temporary hold on the ruling, originally set to expire on January 4, until the US Supreme Court decides whether to accept the appeal and subsequently issues a final decision.
This move brings the nine federal justices into another controversy involving the leading contender for the GOP presidential nomination, adding to their involvement in other matters related to Trump’s election subversion criminal case.
The judge overseeing the trial in Colorado granted the state GOP’s intervention request soon after the lawsuit was initiated.
Colorado GOP Appeals to Supreme Court for Trump Ballot Reinstatement
In their submission on Wednesday, the party has petitioned the US Supreme Court to review the case and reinstate Trump’s name on the Colorado primary ballot.
The lawyers representing the party argue, as per the petition posted online, that the Colorado Supreme Court’s exclusion of President Trump from the ballot constitutes an unprecedented violation of the First Amendment right of political parties to choose their candidates and an encroachment on the people’s right to elect their officials.
Alongside the First Amendment argument, the Colorado GOP contends that the state Supreme Court misapplied the Constitution’s “insurrectionist ban” by extending it to presidents, even though the provision does not explicitly mention the office.
They also assert that only Congress, not courts or state election officials, has the authority to enforce the ban.
The party argues against the state Supreme Court’s conclusion that individual litigants, state courts, and secretaries of state can enforce Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, diverging from established precedent.
Despite the trial judge initially supporting the Colorado GOP’s position that the ban doesn’t apply to presidents, the state Supreme Court disagreed, overturning that part of the ruling and preventing Trump’s inclusion on the ballot.
The party raises concerns about the potential adoption of Colorado’s rationale by other states to exclude Trump from their ballots.
Similar challenges are pending in Maine and Oregon, with some Democratic officials encouraging election officials to consider removing Trump without a court ruling.
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