The US Supreme Court has rejected Colorado state attempts to remove Donald Trump from the ballot for US president.
He can now remain on the ballot for president in the state after the court rejected claims he was accountable for the Capitol riots in 2021.
On his social media platform after the ruling, Trump wrote: “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!”
Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic president Joe Biden in November’s US election.
His only remaining rival for his party’s nomination is former South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley.
The Colorado Supreme Court said in December Trump could not stand for election in the state because he had “engaged in insurrection or rebellion”.
The judges ruled Trump was disqualified because he had incited 2021’s January 6 riot at the Capitol building in Washington DC in an attempt to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The 14th Amendment’s Section 3 bars from office any “officer of the United States” who took an oath “to support the Constitution of the United States” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”.
“We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office.
“But states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency,” the unsigned opinion for the court stated.
Read more:
What is Super Tuesday – and why does it matter so much?
Nikki Haley makes history with Washington DC victory
The justices found that only Congress can enforce the provision against federal officeholders and candidates.
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.
The former president’s 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 6 January riots.
The ruling came on the eve of Super Tuesday – the day in the US presidential primary cycle when the most states hold party nominating contests.
