EBN- US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that former President Donald Trump is eligible to stay on primary election ballots.
The 9-0 ruling is the first in the high court’s history on the so-called insurrection clause in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
The ruling is specific to Colorado, but it also overrides challenges brought in other states.
In its 20-page ruling, the court said Congress has the power to bar someone from federal office — not the states.
“We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office,” the justices wrote. “But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency.”
The court reversed the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling in December that Trump was ineligible to run for or hold federal office and removed Trump from the state’s primary ballot.
One of the court’s justices, Amy Coney Barrett, wrote separately that the fact that all nine justices agreed on the outcome of the case is “the message that Americans should take home”.
The ruling overturns decisions in other states such as Maine and Illinois as well. Voters in Colorado and Maine will cast their ballots in their states’ primary elections on Tuesday, March 5.
