Donald Trump’s appeal of a decision made by Colorado’s top court that would prevent him from running in the western state’s presidential primary was accepted by the US Supreme Court on Friday.
Oral arguments in the crucial election dispute will be held on February 8 at the conservative-majority Supreme Court, which is composed of three judges nominated by the previous president.
The Colorado Supreme Court barred Trump last month from appearing on the Republican presidential primary ballot in the state because of his role in the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Lawyers for Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, urged the US Supreme Court earlier this week to hear the case and “summarily reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling.”
They said the Colorado ruling, “if allowed to stand, will mark the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate.
“The question of eligibility to serve as President of the United States is properly reserved for Congress, not the state courts, to consider and decide,” they added.
The 77-year-old Trump has also lodged an appeal against a ruling by the top election official in Maine that would keep him off the primary ballot in the northeastern state.
Trump’s attorneys urged the Maine Superior Court to toss out the ruling by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, calling her a “biased decision-maker” who “acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.”
The Colorado Supreme Court and Maine secretary of state both ruled that Trump is ineligible to appear on the primary ballot because of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Section Three of the 14th Amendment bars people from holding public office if they engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” after once pledging to support and defend the Constitution.
