The United States Supreme Court may hold the key to former president Donald Trump's reelection bid as it agreed Friday to hear his appeal to overturn a ruling by Colorado's highest court barring him off from the presidential primary ballot of the western state.

The conservative-majority Supreme Court, which includes three justices appointed by the former president, said it would hear oral arguments in the high-stakes election case on 8 February.

The Colorado Supreme Court barred Trump last month from appearing on the Republican presidential primary ballot in the state because of his role in the 6 January 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters.

Lawyers of the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination argued that allowing the Colorado ruling to stand "will mark the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate."

"The question of eligibility to serve as President of the United States is properly reserved for Congress, not the state courts, to consider and decide," they added.

The 77-year-old Trump has also lodged an appeal against a ruling by the top election official in Maine that would keep him off the primary ballot in the northeastern state.

Trump's attorneys urged the Maine Superior Court to toss out the ruling by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, calling her a "biased decision-maker" who "acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner."

The Colorado Supreme Court and Maine secretary of state both ruled that Trump is ineligible to appear on the primary ballot because of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Section Three of the 14th Amendment bars people from holding public office if they engaged in "insurrection or rebellion" after once pledging to support and defend the Constitution.  

WITH AFP