The nation’s courts remain divided over whether the insurrection clause in Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment can block former President Donald Trump from appearing on 2024 primary ballots while one case awaits certification by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The most developed legal challenge to placing Trump on a primary ballot is a Colorado Supreme Court case. In a 4-3 decision, the court concluded that Trump would be banned from seeking office for engaging in insurrection for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Since that decision was issued, the Colorado Republican State Central Committee filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court on whether Section 3 disqualifies the former president from appearing on the primary ballot. The provision in question prohibits anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it from holding office.
