Can Trump be on the ballot? It’s the Supreme Court’s biggest election test since Bush v. Gore

WASHINGTON (AP) — A case with the potential to disrupt Donald Trump’s drive to return to the White House is putting the Supreme Court uncomfortably at the center of the 2024 presidential campaign.

In arguments Thursday, the justices will, for the first time, wrestle with a constitutional provision that was adopted after the Civil War to prevent former officeholders who “engaged in insurrection” from reclaiming power.

The case is the court’s most direct involvement in a presidential election since Bush v. Gore, a decision delivered a quarter-century ago that effectively delivered the 2000 election to Republican George W. Bush. It comes to a court that has been buffeted by criticism over ethics, which led the justices to adopt their first code of conduct in November, and at a time when public approval of the court is diminished, at near-record lows in surveys.

The dispute stems from the push by Republican and independent voters in Colorado to kick Trump off the state’s Republican primary ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«Read more» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Read more </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Illinois election officials to weigh recommendation to remove Trump’s name from March primary ballot </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> The Supreme Court will decide if Donald Trump can be kept off 2024 presidential ballots<use xlink:href="#play-icon" xmlns:xlink=«http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink»>