Tue. Dec 24th, 2024

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NEW DELHI: The US Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a state court ruling on Monday, removing a potential obstacle to Donald Trump‘s presidential aspirations. The ruling, which could have prevented him from appearing on the ballot due to allegations of insurrection, was overturned.
On the eve of the Super Tuesday primaries, the US Supreme Court delivered a high-stakes ruling in favor of the former president. The decision is anticipated to solidify Trump’s path towards securing the Republican nomination to challenge President Joe Biden in the November election.
The recent court case marked the most significant election-related matter heard by the court since its intervention in the Florida vote recount of 2000. During that pivotal moment, the court’s decision stopped the recount, ultimately leading to Republican George W. Bush’s narrow victory over Democrat Al Gore.
The central issue before the nine justices revolved around whether Trump could be disqualified from the Republican presidential primary ballot in Colorado due to his involvement in the insurrection, referring to the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by his supporters.
In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the conservative-dominated court declared that “the judgment of the Colorado Supreme Court… cannot stand.” Consequently, 77-year-old Trump, the leading contender for the Republican White House nomination, is permitted to feature on the state’s primary ballot.
“All nine Members of the Court agree with that result,” they added.
Trump hailed the decision, declaring a “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!” in a post on his Truth Social website.
The case originated from a December ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court, a state among the 15 states and territories participating in Super Tuesday voting. The state court invoked the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, determining that Trump should be removed from the ballot due to his involvement in the January 6 attack on Congress, during which a mob attempted to disrupt the certification of Biden’s 2020 election win.
During two hours of arguments last month, both conservative and liberal justices on the US Supreme Court raised concerns about allowing individual states to determine which candidates can appear on the presidential ballot in November. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits individuals from holding public office if they participated in “insurrection or rebellion” after previously pledging to uphold the Constitution.
The top court on Monday ruled that “responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates rests with Congress and not the States” — and that the principle applied “especially (to) the Presidency.”
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, was aimed at preventing supporters of the slave-holding breakaway Confederacy from being elected to Congress or from holding federal positions.
Monday’s ruling renders other similar state challenges to Trump’s primary ballot appearance, including in Maine, effectively moot.
Colorado’s secretary of state Jena Griswold said she was “disappointed” in the outcome, arguing in a post on X that the state should be able to bar “oath-breaking” insurrectionists.
https://x.com/JenaGriswold/status/1764670650592186392?s=20
(With input from agencies)



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