Paul Ellertson, staff writer

The Supreme Court is about to decide whether Trump gets to stay on the ballot for the 2024 presidential election. This case was brought to the Supreme Court by the state of Colorado after Trump was kicked off of the state’s 2024 ballot. According to NPR, the plaintiffs are arguing that Trump’s actions during the 2020 election and that of the Jan. 6 insurrection disqualify him from running for office on the national level. However, with the most recent hearings, more is being focused on whether individual states can block Trump from the ballot. This is due to the specifics of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and if the decision should be left up to Congress. 

According to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.“ This is the driving force behind Colorado’s removal of Trump from the ballot and why they have escalated the case to the Supreme Court.

According to a quote from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson from Roll Call News, “But then why didn’t they put the word president in the very enumerated list in Section 3?” Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with Justice Jackson that Congress would need to decide if states even have the right to bar presidential candidates from the ballot. 

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. brought the point to Jason Murray, the attorney representing the people of Colorado in the case, to carefully consider what kind of decision this could be not just for Colorado but for the whole country. According to NPR, Justice Kavanaugh questioned Murray on the possibility of a few states “disenfranchising” the American people’s decision of who should be president, therefore putting a threat to our democracy. Murray then rebutted Kavanaugh in a quote from NPR, “The reason we’re here is [former] President Trump tried to disenfranchise 80 million Americans who voted against him.” 

Chief Justice Roberts also voiced his concern that if Trump can be kicked off the ballot, so can many others. According to NPR, The 14th Amendment has only been used a total of eight times since it was written and has never disqualified a presidential candidate before. Trump’s defense lawyers called the case “far-reaching” due to this point, and tried to argue that the 14th Amendment could be used on the many other elected officials if the court decided to bar Trump. 

According to NPR, the Court has been left with three options — follow the Colorado Supreme Court and disqualify Trump, keep Trump on the ballot or let Congress decide. According to CNN, it’s unclear how the Supreme Court will decide but with elections coming up in November and to not disenfranchise voters, a decision will need to be made sooner rather than later.