In the past couple of weeks, Colorado has been battling to get former president Donald Trump off of the 2024 ballot. This involves a clash between Constitutional textualism and voter empowerment. 

The 14th amendment makes the argument that Trump should be disqualified from serving as president again, though there are legal technicalities. Many legal scholars have testified that the amendment applies to Trump and his actions. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court makes the decision, with multiple judges of the Colorado Supreme Court, (4-3 vote), have decided Trump cannot appear on the ballot. 

There have been many complications to this, as people are wondering who should decide the consequences of Trump’s actions? Nine people in Washington, or the electorate of the United States? 

According to the proposal, the January 6th insurrection, and the events following it are the primary reason for this removal. Stating that his acts were unconstitutional, and that he pressured the vice president into unconstitutional acts as well.

The U.S. Supreme Court is still deciding and weighing the factors, but for now Colorado has indefinitely removed Trump from the ballot. Over five more states are considering doing the same, including Texas, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. 

Stay tuned for the next article on the final decisions. 

Cites 

https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/dynamic/render?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20231221&instance_id=110685&nl=the-morning&paid_regi=2&productCode=NN&regi_id=203945409&segment_id=153139&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2Fa2b1151f-652e-585f-9d9b-6adf30a60e02&user_id=3fe21e664b55fe464921a4393ad1b5e4