On Wednesday, the Colorado Republican Party formally appealed the state supreme court’s controversial decision to remove former President Donald J. Trump from the state’s ballot in both the primary and the general election.
As Breitbart reports, the appeal is expected to extend the length of the stay on the state supreme court’s ruling, which the state court had imposed itself immediately upon making the decision due to the expected appeal. When the 4-3 ruling was made earlier this month, the Colorado Supreme Court ordered a pause on enforcement of the ruling until at least January 4th, the day before all of the state’s primary ballots are to be printed off by the Secretary of State’s office.
The state court’s decision, which has widely been panned as unconstitutional and a deliberate misinterpretation of the United States Constitution, claims with no evidence that President Trump is somehow guilty of “insurrection,” and thus disqualified from running for President under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The measure was implemented after the Civil War to prevent former Confederates who “engaged in insurrection” from serving as officers of the United States. However, the office of the presidency is not an “officer” position, and thus is not included in the clause.
Despite the fact that President Trump has never been convicted of any such “insurrection” charges, and was in fact acquitted during his second impeachment trial in regards to the peaceful protest on January 6th, 2021, the state supreme court ruled that he must be removed from the ballot regardless. President Trump said his campaign also plans to appeal the ruling before the Supreme Court.
The Colorado GOP had previously pledged to cancel the state-run primary in favor of a caucus system if the ruling is not overturned.
“The Colorado Supreme Court has removed the leading Republican candidate from the primary and general ballots, fundamentally changing the course of American democracy,” attorneys for the state party said in a statement on Wednesday. “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. This will not only distort the 2024 presidential election but will also mire courts henceforth in political controversies over nebulous accusations of insurrection.”
In addition to the Colorado GOP’s response, fellow Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has vowed to withdraw his name from the ballot in the Colorado primary out of protest of the ruling against President Trump. The decision also drew international condemnation, with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele declaring that the United States can no longer “lecture” other countries on the subject of “democracy” after Colorado’s ruling.
Although Colorado itself is not seen as crucial to President Trump’s campaign, as he is expected to win the nomination in a landslide and lost Colorado twice before in both 2016 and 2020, the precedent that could be set by Colorado’s ruling could lead to other states also attempting to remove him from the ballot ahead of the 2024 election
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