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The Colorado Supreme Court and Maine’s secretary of state have both deemed Donald Trump ineligible for the ballot ahead of their states’ primaries. But neither of those decisions have taken effect, and there’s no nationwide clarity on the issue ahead of this year’s presidential election. So the real question now is whether — and when — the U.S. Supreme Court will step in and provide a resolution.
Here’s where it stands.
The Colorado case currently presents the best shot at such an outcome, but the justices aren’t on a strict timetable to even decide whether to take the appeal, much less when to issue a ruling if they do. Against that uncertain backdrop, both the Colorado GOP — which launched the high court appeal — and the state voters who successfully challenged Trump’s eligibility have asked the justices to expedite their consideration of the matter.
As the state Republican Party observed in its motion to expedite, if the justices consider the petition on a typical timeline, then the case might not be decided until well into 2024. So the GOP asked the justices to rule by Super Tuesday, on March 5 (as it happens, Trump’s federal election interference trial is scheduled to begin March 4, but that start time is in doubt, pending his immunity appeal). The Colorado voters who brought the case agree that the matter should be expedited, but they want the justices to move even more quickly and rule by Feb. 11 if review is granted, noting that most Colorado votes are cast by mail and that voting will begin for in-state residents when ballots are mailed Feb. 12.
We know that the Supreme Court is capable of expediting cases when it wants to. The justices did so for considering special counsel Jack Smith’s petition to bypass the appeals court on Trump’s immunity claim (though the high court declined to take the case itself at that time and the case is currently pending in the appeals court). But the justices haven’t said yet whether they’re expediting consideration of this 14th Amendment issue. Trump himself has indicated he would file his own petition challenging the Colorado ruling, and the justices could be waiting on that before they act. But as both sides of the dispute have explained, the clock is ticking — not just for Colorado elections but, more importantly, nationwide.
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