The Daily Fuckup

A Colorado lawsuit filed on September 6, 2023, asked a state court to keep Donald Trump off the state’s 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot by arguing that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment makes him ineligible. The case was brought by six Colorado voters and targeted Trump’s ballot access directly, not his broader criminal exposure or campaign messaging. The filing said the challenge was based on his conduct connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. ([coloradojudicial.gov](https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/23SA300.pdf?utm_source=openai))

The lawsuit did not change the ballot that day. It asked a court to decide whether the Constitution bars Trump from seeking the presidency again, a question that had not yet been resolved in Colorado at the time of the filing. The case was assigned under Colorado Supreme Court docket number 23SA300 in the state court system’s records. ([coloradojudicial.gov](https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/23SA300.pdf?utm_source=openai))

The filing put a rarely used constitutional provision back into the center of the 2024 race. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was adopted after the Civil War to bar certain former officeholders who took part in rebellion after swearing to support the Constitution. The Colorado complaint tested whether that language applies to Trump’s role in the events surrounding Jan. 6. ([coloradojudicial.gov](https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/23SA300.pdf?utm_source=openai))

At this stage, the immediate effect was procedural. The lawsuit opened a court fight over eligibility and ballot access, but it did not by itself remove Trump from Colorado’s primary ballot or resolve whether the challenge would succeed. That legal fight would continue through the state courts after the September 6 filing. ([coloradojudicial.gov](https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/23SA300.pdf?utm_source=openai))