DENVER – On Wednesday, six Colorado voters initiated a lawsuit aimed at removing former President Donald Trump from the state’s election ballots due to his involvement in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
This legal action, filed in the U.S. District Court in Denver, argues that Trump should be ineligible for future elections under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. This section states that individuals who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after taking an oath to support the Constitution cannot hold office.
The plaintiffs are urging the court to exclude Trump from the 2024 ballot and declare that it would be “inappropriate” and a “dereliction of duty” for Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, to permit his name on any upcoming primary or general election ballots.
Represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and multiple law firms, the group of six voters comprises four Republicans and two unaffiliated individuals. Among the petitioners are former Rep. Claudine Schneider, a registered Republican from Rhode Island who endorsed Barack Obama in 2008, Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Joe Biden in 2020; Norma Anderson, a former majority leader in the Colorado House and Senate; and Krista Kafer, a conservative columnist for the Denver Post who supported Trump in 2020. Although Anderson left the Republican Party in 2021, she later rejoined, as confirmed by CREW.
Their comprehensive 115-page lawsuit contends that Trump violated his oath of office by inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6. The group cited evidence from the House January 6 committee’s findings and special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, which resulted in one of four criminal indictments against the former president.
