A lawsuit was filed in Colorado in September, aiming to utilize the 14th Amendment to prevent former President Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s 2024 ballot.
Six Colorado voters have initiated a legal action in the U.S. District Court in Denver, seeking to exclude the former president from the ballot should he secure the Republican presidential nomination.
This initiative is part of a broader effort to utilize Section 3 of the 14th Amendment as a means to prevent Trump from assuming the presidency.
On Wednesday, six Colorado voters filed a lawsuit aiming to eliminate former President Donald Trump from the state’s election ballots due to his involvement in the January 6, 2021, insurrection.
In their legal action, submitted to the U.S. District Court in Denver, the plaintiffs argue that Trump should be rendered ineligible for future elections based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. This section stipulates that no individual should hold office if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after taking an oath to uphold the Constitution.
The group urged the court to eliminate Trump from the 2024 ballot and to affirm that it would be “improper” and a “breach or neglect of duty” for Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, to permit his name to be included on forthcoming primary or general election ballots.
The lawsuit was filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and several law firms, representing six voters—four Republicans and two unaffiliated.
On Monday, we are going to trial in Colorado in our 14th Amendment lawsuit seeking to bar Donald Trump from the ballot.
If you'd like daily updates about what happens in court next week, sign up here:https://t.co/aSSBBFXXoT
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) October 27, 2023
On Friday, a judge in Colorado issued a ruling against the Trump legal team’s second attempt to have the case dismissed.
In her 24-page decision, Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace dismissed Trump’s claim that questions regarding ballot eligibility fall under the jurisdiction of Congress rather than the courts. She also disagreed with Trump’s contention that state election officials are unable to invoke Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Wallace wrote in her ruling, “The Court holds that states can, and have, applied Section 3 pursuant to state statues without federal enforcement legislation.”
Wallace’s decision is issued just a few days before the trial is scheduled to commence on October 30.
Currently, the matter remains within the purview of state-level litigation, with similar lawsuits progressing through the courts in Minnesota and Michigan.
In October, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to entertain a separate case that aimed to utilize the 14th Amendment to prevent Trump from appearing on the presidential ballot, a case filed by a relatively unknown 2024 Republican presidential candidate.
