Trial On Barring Trump From Colorado Presidential Ballot Begins
A Denver court began hearing arguments Monday in a lawsuit seeking to bar former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot over his role in the January 6th insurrection.
The lawsuit argues Trump should be prohibited from running in future elections, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states no person may hold office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after swearing under oath to support and defend the Constitution. The suit alleges Trump violated his oath of office in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The lawsuit was filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and several law firms on behalf of six Republican and unaffiliated voters and is among the first well-funded efforts to disqualify Trump from the ballot next year.
In a ruling last week, Colorado Judge Sarah Wallace, who is hearing the case, dismissed Trump’s argument that Congress, not the courts, has the authority to handle questions about ballot eligibility. She also rejected Trump’s claim that state election officials don’t have the authority to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
The judge noted that the clause “clearly gives Congress the ability to remove a constitutional disability should a person be disqualified” under the provision, but that it “says nothing regarding what government body would adjudicate or determine such disability in the first instance.”
“The Court notes, however, it would be strange for Congress to be the only entity that is empowered to determine the disability and then also the entity that is empowered to remove it,” Wallace wrote.
Wallace said “states can, and have, applied Section 3 pursuant to state statutes without federal enforcement legislation.”
The case in Colorado is one of several across the country. Free Speech For People, another liberal group, has filed similar lawsuits in Minnesota and Michigan. The Michigan suit is, so far, the first in a swing state.
In addition to these civil lawsuits, Trump is also embroiled in a number of criminal cases. Those include federal charges over alleged election interference and charges in Georgia for allegedly plotting to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss there.
