The U.S. Supreme Court just gave the election back to the voters.
The justices moved with urgency and unanimity allowing former President Donald Trump to remain on the ballot, knowing that Super Tuesday is pivotal. If only Congress had the same focus, but we digress.
Keeping Trump on the ballot is beyond the right decision. States should not have any power over national issues — and the Supreme Court agreed telling Colorado to back off.
“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 (of the Fourteenth Amendment) with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency,” the court ruled in a 13-page decision.
The justices quote case law stating federal officers “owe their existence and functions to the united voice of the whole, not of a portion, of the people.” That’s a powerful message.
Leadership must be earned and no single state or group should be allowed to take it away prematurely.
The court reminded us that the Fourteenth Amendment was “designed to help ensure an enduring Union by preventing former Confederates from returning to power in the aftermath of the Civil War” — not to interfere in a presidential race. Congress, the court adds, is the only avenue.
Or, get out and vote!
The justices are reaching back, you could say, to Teddy Roosevelt who proclaimed “the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.”
Colorado, your judgment “cannot stand.”