Colorado is one of 16 states holding a presidential primary on Super Tuesday, with questions on whether former President Donald Trump will appear on the ballot finally silenced following a Supreme Court ruling on Monday.
Voting begins at 9 a.m. Eastern time and will go until 9 p.m. Democrats can choose between several presidential candidates, most notably incumbent President Joe Biden. However, Biden is facing a growing challenge from his own party and voters who are unhappy with his response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Colorado ballot: Will Trump appear?
Despite the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that Trump is disqualified from the ballot under the 14th Amendment, the former president will appear on Colorado’s primary ballot on March 5. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the state’s decision on Monday, ruling that only Congress can disqualify federal officeholders and candidates.
The high court’s ruling effectively brings an end to other challenges to Trump’s candidacy in states such as Maine, Illinois, and New York. Maine’s decision to remove Trump from the ballot had been stayed in the wake of the Supreme Court taking up the Colorado case, and the former president is appealing a decision in Illinois to remove him from the ballot as well. New York had also paused proceedings on the matter as it waited for the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Trump will appear on the Colorado ballot alongside a slew of other candidates, five of whom have suspended their campaigns. The former president, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Rachel Swift, and Walter Iwachiw are the four candidates with campaigns Republicans can select on Super Tuesday.
Fremont County Clerk Justin Grantham told Colorado Public Radio ahead of the Supreme Court ruling that the plan was to “go ahead and count” the Trump votes. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said it would have “been helpful” for the Supreme Court to rule on the case before ballots were mailed out.
Joe Biden vs. uncommitted
Biden is facing some challengers, notably Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN). However, he is now facing a new and perhaps more formidable opponent: the “uncommitted” option.
After over 100,000 Michigan voters selected “uncommitted,” a similar movement in Colorado was spurred. The Colorado Palestine Coalition and local chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America announced the “Vote Noncommitted Colorado” campaign on Wednesday after the results of the Michigan primary were released.
The Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and the war that followed between Israel and Hamas have placed Biden’s approval ratings and performances in the 2024 primary elections in jeopardy, particularly as support from key voting blocs such as Muslim Americans and other Palestinian supporters continues to dwindle.
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In Michigan, the uncommitted movement was organized by Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan and sister to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian American member of Congress who has been vocal in her opposition to Biden’s support of Israel.
Whether or not Biden has overwhelming support on Super Tuesday will be up to voters in Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Iowa, all states that, like Colorado, have an “uncommitted” option on their ballots.
