The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on Thursday over whether former President Donald Trump should be barred from Colorado’s Republican primary ballot.
The case will shape the 2024 election, as dozens of states have similar pending lawsuits against the former president.
In December, a divided Colorado Supreme Court ruled Trump ineligible to appear on the state ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause, which prevents people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office, citing Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Here are three key questions hanging over the case ahead of the high-stakes arguments in Washington on Thursday.
Who are the voters challenging Trump?
Several former Republican and nonaffiliated Colorado voters launched the lawsuit to block Trump, leading to the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
The nonprofit organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington backed the lawsuit. Norma Anderson, 91, is the lead plaintiff of the case and has worked in Colorado politics for decades, serving as the first woman to become majority leader in the Colorado House and the Colorado Senate.
What are the arguments on both sides?
Under Colorado’s election law, voters are permitted to challenge a candidate’s qualifications in court. Anderson and other plaintiffs argue that Trump is ineligible to return to the White House under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment due to his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled against Trump, causing the former president to make a federal appeal.
Trump’s lawyers will be pitching several arguments to the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 Republican-appointed majority, to throw out the Colorado court’s ruling. Some attorneys have said Trump is not an “officer of the United States” under the context of the 14th Amendment clause and that it, therefore, does not apply to the presidency or him.
In a brief filed in January, Trump’s lawyers argued he never engaged in an insurrection and that no prosecution has charged him with one “despite the relentless and ongoing investigations of President Trump.”
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What happens if Trump is kicked off the ballot? What happens if he isn’t?
In the unlikely event that the highest court upholds the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision, the matter of Trump’s ballot eligibility would return to the states. Colorado and Maine have already tried to block him from appearing on the GOP primary ballot, which needs to be finalized ahead of Super Tuesday on March 5. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said Trump’s name is certified on the statewide Republican ballot for the 2024 presidential primary, but the Supreme Court’s ruling will determine if those votes end up counting.
It’s plausible that the highest court could make a swift ruling in favor of all arguments by Trump’s attorneys, ensuring he’ll remain on the primary and general election ballots.
