photo credit: Mia Harrington
Former President Donald J. Trump has faced plenty of hardships regarding this upcoming presidential election this fall. These include many states wanting him to be declared ineligible to be on primary ballots. However, it is still up to the Supreme Court to make this decision.
Since 2020, Trump seems to have been under fire many times with the attempts of overturning the 2020 election, the attacks on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, his four indictments and most recently, this situation. According to BBC, there will be a case held in February in which the Supreme Court justices agreed to take up Trump’s appeal against Colorado removing him from the 2024 ballot in that state.
“They will hear on Feb. 8, and they need to make very quick decisions, typically that would be anywhere between three to six months. We don’t have three to six months because the primary process has already begun,” AP Government Teacher John Carmichael said. “It really comes down to the 14th amendment section three. And the question the Supreme Court needs to decide is what President Trump did or didn’t do.”
Section three of the 14th Amendment strictly prohibits individuals who have sworn an oath to support the Constitution and then proceed to engage in insurrection against it while holding public office, according to CBS News.
Because of Trump’s questionable track record, it leaves the public wondering about his credibility for being on the ballot and even his eligibility for running for president.
“I feel like anyone running for president should be honest and trustworthy,” junior James Moyer said. “The fact that he is even considered for committing offenses should mean that he should not be on the ballot.”
As a result of this situation, there is no telling what the future of the ballots will look like.
“The worry is that anytime something unprecedented happens, people worry that it will open up a gate to this happening more often anytime someone disagrees with what a candidate has done,” Intervention Specialist Grant Beam said. “Not saying that this isn’t a legitimate concern that people have, I just think that something new is happening like this where there is no historical precedent for, I’m worried that people might become too comfortable with the idea of removing people from ballots. We need to keep in mind that the Constitution needs to be the guiding force in all these, and if there is something in the Constitution that can give guidance that needs to be a primary focus, as opposed to just political rivalries and motivations.”
Super Tuesday occurs on March 5, and it is an important day that will shape the outcome of the 2024 election. It’s a day where several states hold primary elections; the way this affects the election is that a candidate could possibly dominate Super Tuesday, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will win the general election, according to USA Today.
Primaries began on Jan. 15 in Iowa, and due to these circumstances; it adds a lot of challenges to not only the decision making of the Supreme Court, but the timing of what is happening.
“It speeds everything up. They have got to have this decided by March 5, which is Super Tuesday, that is where several states have their primaries all in the same day,” Carmichael said. “And voters deserve to know whether Trump is going to be allowed to move forward and be eligible as president. It just makes the Supreme Court speed up on everything.”
