2023-12-19 23:47:39
Former US President Donald Trump. CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS
The highest court in this western state has ordered the withdrawal of ballots in the name of the former US president from the Republican primaries in Colorado.
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday, December 19, ruled former US President Donald Trump ineligible for the presidency due to his actions during the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and ordered the withdrawal of ballots in his name from the Republican primaries for the 2024 presidential election in this state.
By a majority of four out of seven justices, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s November ruling concluding that it had “delivered to a rebellion on January 6, 2021” during the assault on the Capitol, but on the other hand considered that the 14th amendment of the Constitution, invoked to claim his ineligibility, did indeed apply to a president. On January 6, 2021, hundreds of white-hot Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, the sanctuary of American democracy, to try to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
Decision suspended until January 4
The Colorado Supreme Court, however, suspended its decision until January 4, the deadline for the certification of primary ballots in Colorado, in case of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States before then. “If an appeal is filed with the Supreme Court before this stay expires, it will remain in effect and the election official must still include President Trump’s name on the 2024 primary ballot until she receives any injunction or mandate of the Supreme Court”according to this decision.
Donald Trump’s spokesperson immediately denounced the decision “undemocratic” of Colorado, and announced that he would appeal to the Supreme Court, the highest judicial body in the country. “The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision this evening and we will quickly go to the United States Supreme Court and seek a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision.”said Steven Cheung in a press release.
“A great moment for democracy”
“Mr. Trump acted with the specific intent of inciting political violence and directing it toward the Capitol in an effort to prevent certification of the election. of his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, said trial judge Sarah Wallace in her decision on November 17. On the other hand, it considered that the 14th amendment to the Constitution, invoked by the applicants, the anti-corruption citizens group Crew, did not apply to the president, while recognizing the existence of doubts on this point. This amendment adopted in 1868, targeting at the time the supporters of the Southern Confederacy defeated during the Civil War (1861-1865), excludes from all public responsibility anyone, following having taken an oath to defend the Constitution, who would have engaged in acts of “rebellion”.
“We won!” reacted Crew on X (ex-Twitter), welcoming “a great moment for democracy”.
The historic indictment of the ex-president on August 1 at the federal level then on August 14 by the state of Georgia (southeast) for his allegedly illicit attempts to obtain the reversal of the results of the 2020 election opened a legal debate on his possible ineligibility, leading to appeals in several states.
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