The United States Supreme Court handed down a unanimous, 9–0 decision on Monday, 4 March. The court ruled that states, either through their judicial or executive branch, do not have the power to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot in the 2024 presidential election.
The ruling came in the wake of legal challenges in multiple states to exclude Trump’s name from the ballot for his alleged criminal conduct during the 6 January 2021 capitol riots. Civil or state actors argued that this should be done in accordance with Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. Such motions have been brought forward in over 30 states, however, the majority of these cases had been dismissed already by lower courts even before the SCOTUS decision.
Nevertheless, in addition to a handful of pending cases, the Colorado Supreme Court, a circuit court judge in Illinois, and the Secretary of State in Maine have approved motions to remove Donald Trump from the ballot.
All these decisions have now been voided by the Supreme Court.
The unsigned unanimous opinion argues that the 14th Amendment gave additional power to the federal government over the states, and not the other way around. Section 5 clarifies that only Congress has the power to declare a candidate ineligible for federal office. However, states have the power to bar someone from holding state office.
Based on the wording of the opinion, it seems that the Supreme Court would only allow a candidate to be removed from presidential ballots if Congress passed a piece of legislation declaring one an insurrectionist. There actually have been such attempts in the wake of the 6 January riots. However, even the at the time Democrat-majority House voted them down. Now, with Republicans holding a slim majority in the lower chamber of Congress, there is no chance of such a bill ever passing.
The decision came just ahead of Super Tuesday, when primary elections are held in 16 different states—including Colorado. The state had already placed Donald Trump back on the primary ballot, pending the decision by the Supreme Court. Voters in the Centennial State can now head to the polls in full confidence that their vote will count, and will not be invalidated after the primary election.
The Saviours of Democracy Fighting Against Democracy
‘Saving democracy’ is a popular talking point of President Joe Biden in his re-election campaign. However, it most likely loses a lot of its effect when actors within his own party, or judges appointed by his own party, are engaging in conduct so undemocratic that the US Supreme Court strikes it down unanimously—even justices appointed by Democratic presidents. No such attack on democracy occurred during the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency. Meanwhile, President Biden or anyone from his administration have never spoken up against the unscrupulous legal challenges.
Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie R. Porter in Illinois went the farthest in her efforts to tread on the will of the people. In her ruling, she even barred voters from writing in Donald Trump’s name, and ordered that all such votes must be ‘suppressed’ in that case. She opined that the decision should stand in defiance of any ruling the US Supreme Court might issue (!), going against over 200 years of tradition of judicial review, set by the Marbury vs. Madison case in 1803.
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