Trump wins Colorado ballot disqualification case at US Supreme Court

Supreme Court victory allows Trump to remain on Colorado ballot, challenging Biden in upcoming election.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed Donald Trump a major victory on March 4 as he campaigns to regain the presidency, overturning a judicial decision that had excluded him from Colorado's ballot under a constitutional provision involving insurrection for inciting and supporting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The Justices unanimously reversed a December 19 decision by Colorado's top court to kick Mr. Trump off the State's Republican primary ballot after finding that the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment disqualified him from again holding public office.

Mr. Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 U.S. election. His only remaining rival for his party's nomination is former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who recently got her first victory by winning the District of Columbia’s Republican primary.

Mr. Trump was also barred from the ballot in Maine and Illinois based on the 14th Amendment, but those decisions were put on hold pending the Supreme Court's ruling in the Colorado case. His eligibility had been challenged in court by a group of six voters in Colorado - four Republicans and two independents - who portrayed him as a threat to American democracy and sought to hold him accountable for the Jan. 6, 2021, riots on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

The plaintiffs were backed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog group.

The ruling came on the eve of Super Tuesday, the day in the U.S. presidential primary cycle when most States hold party nominating contests. As lawsuits seeking to disqualify Mr. Trump cropped up across the U.S., it was important for his candidacy to clear any hurdles to appear on the ballot in all 50 States.

The Supreme Court resolved the Colorado ballot dispute speedily, a timeline that stands in contrast to its slower handling of Mr. Trump's bid for immunity from criminal prosecution in a federal case in which he faces charges for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. Mr. Trump's trial has been put on hold awaiting the outcome of the Supreme Court's decision - a benefit for him as he campaigns against Biden.