WASHINGTON (CN) — The Colorado Republican Party said it asked the Supreme Court to put Donald Trump back on the state’s primary ballot on Wednesday evening.
Colorado’s high court removed the former president from the state’s ballot using the 14th Amendment, which prevents people who have engaged in an insurrection or rebellion from holding office. Trump’s attempt to subvert the certification of the 2020 election leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has left him with dozens of criminal charges across the country.
The Colorado Republican State Central Committee defended Trump’s position on the party’s primary ballot, intervening in a lawsuit filed by their own party's voters. In a petition the party says it submitted to the Supreme Court, the committee urged the justices to review the state high court’s unprecedented decision.
“For the first time in American history, a former president has been disqualified from the ballot, a political party has been denied the opportunity to put forward the presidential candidate of its choice, and the voters have been denied the ability to choose their chief executive through the electoral process,” Jay Alan Sekulow, an attorney with the American Center for Law & Justice representing the party, wrote in the petition.
In the party’s view, the Colorado Supreme Court stretched the state’s authority over the Constitution too far, violating the founding document instead of upholding it.
“By excluding President Trump from the ballot, the Colorado Supreme Court engaged in an unprecedented disregard for the First Amendment right of political parties to select the candidates of their choice and a usurpation of the rights of the people to choose their elected officials,” Sekulow wrote.
The party warned the Supreme Court that without its intervention, every state could be empowered to use Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to remove candidates at will, at times with diverging results.
“Unless the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision is overturned, any voter will have the power to sue to disqualify any political candidate, in Colorado or in any other jurisdiction that follows its lead,” Sekulow wrote. “This will not only distort the 2024 presidential election but will also mire courts henceforth in political controversies over nebulous accusations of insurrection.”
The 14th Amendment was passed after the Civil War, attempting to prevent Confederate officers from holding office. Following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Section 3 of the amendment has garnered renewed interest from those seeking to prevent insurrectionists from returning to office. Section 3 says individuals can not hold office if they have previously rebelled while under oath.
Republican voters filed a lawsuit against Colorado’s secretary of state to prevent Trump’s name from being listed on the primary ballot, claiming his election interference efforts disqualified him from holding office.
Second Judicial District Judge Sarah Wallace held an expedited trial and found that Trump incited an insurrection against the Constitution. However, Wallace stopped short of ruling to remove Trump from the state’s ballot.
The Colorado Supreme Court took the step Wallace was unwilling to, finding that Trump should be disqualified because he engaged in an insurrection while under the oath of office.
Anticipating the need for Supreme Court review, the state high court put their ruling on pause until Jan. 4, 2024. The state party’s appeal extends that pause until the Supreme Court rules on the issue.
The deadline for Colorado to begin printing its primary ballots is Jan. 5, 2024. With Trump’s disqualification from Colorado’s ballot paused indefinitely, it is likely he will appear on the primary ballot.
Trump also intervened in the lawsuit and is expected to submit his own appeal of the state court’s ruling.
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