Jan. 3 (UPI) — The group of six Colorado voters that challenged Donald Trump’s eligibility to run for the Republican nomination are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.
Four Republican and two independent voters join the nonprofit organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in attempting to keep Trump off the primary ballot over his role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The group filed a request to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, urging that the case is “of utmost national importance.”
“The Court should resolve this case on an expedited timetable, so that voters in Colorado and elsewhere will know whether Trump is indeed constitutionally ineligible when they cast their primary ballots,” the filing reads.
There are three questions that they are asking the high court to rule on:
Is the President included among the officials outlined in Section Three of the 14th Amendment?Must Congress pass legislation that allows states to enforce Section Three of the 14th Amendment?Does the First Amendment allow political parties to override state law and list candidates on primary ballots who are constitutionally ineligible to be president?
The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from appearing on the ballot last month under Section Three of the 14th Amendment. The clause bars any officials who take an oath to support the U.S. Constitution from holding future office if they engaged in an insurrection.
The Colorado Republican State Central Committee appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court last week, also seeking a quick decision.
Colorado’s primary election is March 5.
The deadline for Secretary of State Jena Griswold to certify the names and party affiliations of candidates to be placed on primary ballots is Friday. Ballot order and contents are also to be delivered to county clerks.
A lower court judge previously ruled that Trump should remain on the ballot, but that the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was an insurrection and Trump did engage through incitement. While that ruling favored keeping Trump eligible, his attorneys appealed Judge Sarah B. Wallace’s ruling that Trump engaged in an insurrection.
