WASHINGTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is co-leading an amicus brief with Indiana asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a decision from Colorado that kept former President Donald Trump off the ballot for that state’s presidential primary ballot.
The coalition of states – that also includes the Arizona Legislature and legislative leadership of North Carolina – claims Congress must decide whether to disqualify a person from office ineligible under the Section 3 of Fourteenth Amendment.
By declaring Donald Trump ineligible, the coalition says the Colorado Supreme Court has effectively reordered the roles of all the relevant players in presidential elections.
“We have seen President Trump’s decisive victory in the Iowa Caucuses, which reflected the will of the people to choose who should represent them in government,” Morrisey said. “He is clearly the frontrunner, and the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to keep President Trump off the ballot is flawed — that determination lies with Congress and Congress alone.
“This is all about protecting the integrity of our elections.”
The coalition said the Colorado decision “strikes a serious blow to the Constitution’s structural separation of powers.”
“What constitutes insurrection is not a question courts should answer at all,” Morrisey added.
The originating lawsuit was filed by six Colorado voters who claim Trump is disqualified from office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause in the 14th Amendment because of his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, incident at the U.S. Capitol.
A state district judge ruled the insurrection clause does not apply to the presidency and allowed Trump to be on the ballot. Then the Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling barring Trump from the GOP primary ballot under the 14th Amendment.
“Colorado’s decision creates confusion in the upcoming primaries, and this case never should’ve been brought,” said Morrisey, who noted in the U.S. Supreme Court brief that Colorado’s “decision to dilute former President Trump’s votes in the upcoming election will throw the 2024 presidential election into chaos.”
The AGS of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming also joined the coalition amicus brief.
U.S. Supreme Court of Appeals case number 23-719