USA/ The Supreme Court will determine whether Trump can be excluded from the ballot

2024-01-06 09:10:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

USA/ The Supreme Court will determine whether Trump can be excluded from the

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The Supreme Court said Friday it will determine whether or not President Donald Trump's name can be removed from the ballot because of his efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, making the court a factor in the presidential campaign. of the year 2024.

Court members acknowledged that a quick decision is needed as voters will soon begin casting presidential ballots in primaries across the country.

The court agreed to hear an appeal by Mr Trump of a ruling in the state of Colorado over his role in the events that culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Arguments in this case will be presented in early February.

It is the first time the court will interpret a provision of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution that bars certain officials who "engage in sedition" from holding public office.

The amendment was adopted in 1868, after the Civil War, and has been used so rarely that the nation's highest court has never before had occasion to rule on it.

The Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, ruled last month that Mr. Trump should not be part of the Republican primary.

It was the first time that the 14th Amendment was used as a basis to disqualify a presidential candidate from the race.

Former President Trump is separately appealing in state court a ruling by Democratic Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows that he should not be on that state's ballot because of his role in the attack on the Capitol.

Decisions by the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine Secretary of State are on hold pending appeals.

The high court's decision to intervene, which was requested by both sides, is the most direct involvement in its presidential election since the 2000 election between then-Republican candidate George W. Bush and former Democratic vice president Al Gore. , when a conservative majority of the court effectively decided the outcome of the election in favor of the Republican Bush.

Three of the current nine members of the Supreme Court were appointed by Mr. Trump, although they have ruled against him several times in lawsuits related to the 2020 election and his efforts to withhold documents related to Jan. 6 from submitted tax documents to the Congress Commissions.

On the other hand, conservative members of the court Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh have been part of most of the decisions made by conservatives that overturned the constitutional right to abortion and expanded the rights to bear arms./ VOA