Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to rule that the state can legally remove former President Donald Trump off the Republican primary ballot due to his activities in 2020, which culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The case, among other things, challenges whether Trump “engaged in insurrection” under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and thus is barred from serving as president.
Griswold, the state’s chief election officer, and a Democrat filed a brief defending Colorado’s procedure for evaluating candidate eligibility before Supreme Court hearings next week.
“Over the decades, Colorado has repeatedly relied on this state court procedure to resolve ballot access and other election disputes presenting novel and complex issues of both fact and law, including issues of constitutional magnitude,” a letter from Griswold’s attorneys stated.
The same state process is used to assess if presidential candidates are barred from serving for other reasons, such as being 35 years old or older, according to the lawyers.
According to them, the federal government “should not be forced to include a candidate found by its courts to have violated his oath to support the Constitution by engaging in insurrection.”
Trump and the six Colorado voters who initiated the case have already filed briefs.
The lawsuit will be keenly followed, as other states may follow suit if Trump is removed from the ballot in Colorado.