BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The U.S. Supreme Court may play a huge role in deciding the next presidential election.
The state of Colorado deemed Donald Trump ineligible this week to run for president there. As of now, he cannot be on the ballot.
The Colorado Supreme Court handed down the 4-3 ruling Tuesday, citing the 14th Amendment, which bans insurrectionists from being on the ballot. The court specifically referenced Trump's role in the Jan. 6, 2023 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. But the former president has already said he plans to appeal these rulings. 13News spoke with Indiana University professor Steve Sanders, who said it's almost certain the U.S. Supreme Court will take this case and decide.
"It would never allow a lower court decision to just take effect. Because then it's hard to undo if the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately decides the Colorado Supreme Court was wrong, you don't want a party to have suffered negative consequences in that case," he said. "So I think just kind of based on knowledge of the Supreme Court, process, and how big this case is. I'm pretty certain that's what will happen."
Colorado's Supreme Court put its decision on hold until Jan. 4. This decision allows the proper time for appeals.
If the matter is brought before the Supreme Court before that date, the stay will remain in effect and Colorado would be required to include Trump's name on the primary ballot.
"The reason this is such a difficult case is that the provision of the Constitution that the Colorado Supreme Court relied on hasn't been used in all these years since the time of the Civil War. So, what did the authors of the 14th Amendment back in the 1860s - what did they mean by participating in an insurrection?" said Sanders.
Similar efforts have been made in over a dozen states, including New Hampshire, Arizona, Michigan, and Florida, but Colorado is the only one that has been successful.