Washington, DC [US], January 6 : The US Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would examine the historic ruling made by the Colorado Supreme Court to bar former President Donald Trump from running for office from that state's ballot, according to CNN.
The court, notably scheduled oral arguments for February 8.
Because the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the lower court's disqualification of Trump, he is still listed on the primary ballot.
Any votes cast for Trump would be invalidated if the courts decide he is not qualified to hold public office. The Supreme Court's decision to take up the case places the nine justices squarely in the middle of the 2024 election, just as early primary voting is about to begin.
The decision made by the state court last month almost guaranteed that the justices would have to hear the contentious issue and decide whether or not Trump could be struck from the ballot.
Although the Colorado decision is limited to that state, courts in a number of other states have examined challenges to Trump's eligibility; however, none of these cases have progressed as far as the Colorado finding. Trump's team filed an appeal in state court on Tuesday after the secretary of state in Maine withdrew him from the state's 2024 primary ballot last week, CNN reported.
The Trump campaign declared that it is in favour of a "fair hearing" regarding the Colorado ballot dispute at the Supreme Court.
Colorado's top election official certified the 2024 presidential primary ballots with Trump's name on the Republican ballot on Friday, putting the decision on hold while the US Supreme Court decides how to handle the issue, CNN reported.
Votes for Trump would be invalidated if the courts determined before Colorado's primary that he is not qualified for public office.
On Wednesday, one week after the Colorado Republican Party also requested that the issue be heard by the justices, Trump filed an appeal of the ruling with the US Supreme Court.
According to the startling 4-3 ruling last month, Trump's actions on January 6, 2021, are covered by the 14th Amendment's bar on insurrectionists holding office, making him constitutionally ineligible to run for office in 2024.
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