Supreme Court: States Must Include Trump On 2024 Ballot

(LibertySociety.com) – The United States Supreme Court ruled on March 4 that former President Trump could not be disqualified from Colorado’s 2024 presidential primary ballot. The 9-0 decision made clear that one state could not unilaterally decide for all other states who would represent the nation.

Five justices agreed that Congress was the only body that could enforce Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and remove a candidate from the ballot of a federal election. Illinois and Maine had also chosen to remove Trump from their primary ballots but issued stays while waiting for the ruling from the Supreme Court.

The decision was unsurprising to anyone who listened to the oral arguments before the Court, as even the liberal justices were skeptical of Colorado’s justification for taking the action. The three liberal justices wrote a separate concurring opinion. They made clear that they agreed that a single state could not determine the outcome of a federal election by removing a candidate from the ballot. However, they wrote that the majority went too far by giving its opinion on who could enforce Section 3 at the federal level.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote a solo opinion that included remarks similar to the liberal justices. She concluded by pointing out the unanimity in the decision regarding Colorado’s authority. She wrote, “That is the message Americans should take home.” Trump praised the decision, which undoubtedly provided positive optics for his campaign.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold posted on X, formerly Twitter, expressing her disappointment in the decision. She argued that her state “should be able to bar oath-breaking insurrections [sic] from our ballot.”

Other liberal personalities had a more extreme reaction to the ruling. Podcaster Keith Olbermann was so mad that he turned against the liberal justices and accused them of having reading comprehension problems. CNN’s Dana Bash said that it was unfortunate for American citizens that the Framers only wanted Congress to be able to write laws.

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