Tell us: Do you agree with SCOTUS decision to keep Trump on the ballot?

Tell Us The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that states cannot bar the former president from presidential primary ballots. Donald Trump greets supporters after his win at a New Hampshire Primary night watch party in Nashua on Jan. 23, 2024. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot bar former president Donald Trump from running as a presidential candidate, ending attempts by several states to take him off the ballot.

The court reversed a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court, which had determined that Trump could not run again as president under Section 3 of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, the so-called “insurrection clause.” The justices ruled that states cannot invoke the Civil War-era provision to keep presidential candidates from appearing on ballots. Rather, that power is reserved for Congress to wield.

“The Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3,” the court wrote in their decision.

The issue emerged from a challenge brought by six Colorado voters who claimed Trump was constitutionally ineligible for the state’s Republican primary based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The provision was adopted after the Civil War to forbid those who had taken an oath “to support the Constitution of the United States” from holding office if they “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

This is the first time the Supreme Court has addressed this provision of the 14th Amendment. It is also the court’s most important ruling concerning a presidential election since Bush v. Gore, a decision that effectively handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000.

The Supreme Court’s decision comes just a day before the Massachusetts presidential primaries on Super Tuesday, when 15 other states hold primaries. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin said in a press conference Monday that the ruling was made “deliberately” and will help inform Massachusetts voters as they head to the polls.

“Today’s decision is extremely important for voters. [SCOTUS] issued it at before 10 o’clock this morning so that all the voters who are voting tomorrow, and all the voters who will be going to vote over the next few months, know what the rules are, know what the impact of the 14th Amendment is, and knows who’s responsible to enforce it – which they say is the Congress,” Galvin said.

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How do you feel about the Supreme Court ruling on Donald Trump’s ballot eligibility?