Former President Donald Trump was declared ineligible from holding office again due to his involvement in the insurrection on January 6, 2021. He was disqualified under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, which bans those who engage in insurrection from holding any position—civil, military or elected office—in the House or Senate. 

The Colorado Supreme Court referenced this clause, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which justified Trump’s disqualification from the 2024 presidential election as well as his removal from the Colorado presidential ballot. This court decision made by the justices was the first in history to use the insurrection clause in order to disqualify a candidate from running for president. 

“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the Colorado court justices wrote. “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado secretary of state to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”

The ruling does not directly address the general election, but instructs the Colorado secretary of state to exclude Trump’s name from Colorado’s Republican primary ballot.

The Colorado justices placed their ruling on hold until January 4, 2024 or until the Supreme Court rules on the case. However, Colorado officials stated that the matter must be resolved by January 5, the deadline for the state to print its presidential election ballots. 

“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the court wrote. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”