A non-governmental organization (NGO) on Wednesday moved forward with a case to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the Colorado primaries, arguing that he is ineligible to run for the White House through a rarely used provision in the US Constitution. The case, which cites the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, will be the first step in a process that appears destined to reach the US Supreme Court, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The complaint was filed on behalf of six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability.
The campaign for the 2024 Republican primaries is already taking place in an environment of uncertainty as the leading candidate faces four different criminal proceedings. Top Republican state election officials have called for Trump to be barred from running under a constitutional amendment that bars “insurrection or rebellion” against the constitution from holding high office.
The move has not been taken in either state, with trustees seeking the court’s guidance on how to interpret a section that has been used only a handful of times since the 1860s.
The lawsuit filed today is the first filed by an organization with significant legal precedent and could lead to similar cases in other states, opening the possibility of conflicting results that would require a Supreme Court decision.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, said in a statement that she hoped the case “will provide guidance to election officials about Trump’s eligibility as a candidate for office.”
Given that then-President Trump tried to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden and his support for the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the lawsuit insists the case is clear, which the Republican president denies.
Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment helped protect civil rights for freed slaves and eventually all people in the United States, but it was also used after the Civil War to prevent former Confederate officers from becoming members of Congress and taking over the government. They rebelled against.
Law professors from both parties say the amendment is as clear and valid for the president as the Constitution’s requirement that a candidate for the White House be at least 35 years old and a natural-born citizen. But others note that there is uncertainty about the provision, and that a case involving the issue has never reached a judge in Washington.
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