Former President Donald Trump on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a Colorado ruling banning voting in the 2024 election, arguing it would cause “chaos and chaos” if other state courts followed suit.
Lawyers for the 77-year-old Republican presidential primary front-runner have filed a Supreme Court filing calling for Trump to be disqualified from the state's ballot for “insurrection” under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. He condemned the court's December ruling. The court said the lower court's decision was “based on a dubious interpretation” of the Constitution.
“The court should reverse the Colorado decision because President Trump is not a constitutional 'officer of the United States' and therefore is not subject to Article III.” “Even though he was the subject of an insurrection, he did not 'engage' in anything that would qualify as an 'insurrection,''' Trump's lawyers wrote. 59 page overview.
Trump's lawyers say efforts to remove President Trump from primary and general election ballots based on similar grounds are underway in more than 30 states and could have serious consequences. are doing.
“The court threatens to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans, and these voting disenfranchisements promise to cause chaos and uproar if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado’s lead.” “We must quickly and decisively put an end to these efforts,” the filing states.
The brief goes on to say that “there is nothing in Colorado election law that requires the Secretary of State to evaluate the qualifications of presidential primary candidates,” and that state election officials are required to “verify candidates' sworn statements.” There is no obligation to do so, second-guess or exclude.” Presidential candidates from voting results. ”
The high court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on February 8 in Trump's challenge to the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling.
Nearly 200 congressional Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, signed another brief Thursday asking the Supreme Court to keep Trump on the 2024 ballot. .
“In times of polarization, it's easy to cast opposition rhetoric about election results that encourages others to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.” The 37-page preliminary document said:.
Lawmakers also argued that the ruling “short-circuited” Parliament's role.
After the 4-3 Colorado ruling, Democratic Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows removed Trump from the state's ballot, also citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Pending the Supreme Court's decision, Trump's name will appear on both Colorado and Maine's primary ballots for the March 5 Super Tuesday election.
