It was a massive relief for former United States president Donald Trump as the US Supreme Court on Monday ruled that efforts by independent states to bar him from the presidential ballot as candidate in the November election cannot stand.
Justices unanimously overruled Colorado’s decision to disqualify Trump from the Republican primary ballot following an anti-insurrection clause in the US Constitution to ban Trump cited by the Colorado judges.
Similar attempts have been made in Illinois and Maine, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment that bans anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from office.
The Colorado ruling was predicated on Trump’s actions around the 6 January attack on the Capitol by his supporters. However, in their Monday decision, the Supreme justices ruled that only Congress has the power to enforce the provision, not states.
On Tuesday, Republican voters in Colorado and more than a dozen other states will go to the polls to pick the party’s presidential nominee.
Trump has already demonstrated his capacity to win the Republican presidential ticket having won in important states that already voted.
