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Supreme Court will hear appeal of Trump ballot disqualification in Colorado

Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on Dec. 19, 2023.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
  • The U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear an appeal challenging a court ruling that disqualified former President Donald Trump from appearing on the Republican primary ballot in Colorado.
  • The Colorado Supreme Court in December ruled that Trump could not appear on the GOP ballot due to his incitement of the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
  • A provision in the U.S. Constitution bars people who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the U.S. from holding federal office.
  • The secretary of state of Maine also has said Trump is barred from appearing on that state's Republican primary ballot.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal challenging a court ruling that disqualified former President Donald Trump from appearing on the Republican primary ballot in Colorado due to his incitement of the 2021 Capitol riot.

The Supreme Court said it will hear oral arguments in the case on Feb. 8.

Colorado's Republican primary is scheduled to be held March 5. Trump is by far the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.

Colorado's own state Supreme Court in a Dec. 19 ruling barred Trump from the primary ballot due to a provision in the U.S. Constitution, reversing a trial court judge's earlier decision in the case.

Plaintiffs in the case argued that Trump was disqualified from being a presidential candidate because he had spurred the insurrection that sought to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.

Section 3 of the Constitution's 14th Amendment says "no person" can serve as an officer of the U.S. who, having previously taken an oath of federal office, "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the U.S.

The state Supreme Court's ruling was on hold since it was issued to give Trump or the Colorado Republican Party time to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of the decision. The state party did that last week and Trump followed suit Wednesday.

Colorado was the first state to block Trump from a ballot due to his efforts to reverse his loss to Biden. The secretary of state of Maine last week disqualified Trump from the Republican primary there on those grounds.

Trump is appealing that ruling in Maine state court.

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Correction: This article has been updated to correct how a Colorado trial judge ruled on a challenge to Donald Trump's appearance on the state GOP's primary ballot.

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