Former President Donald Trump will stay on ballot in Colorado, according to a new Supreme Court decision, and Gov. Ron DeSantis made a new elections appointment Monday.
Trump remains on the ballot for GOP primary
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that former President Donald Trump can remain on the Colorado ballot, ending a months-long battle over states' efforts to declare him ineligible over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The nine justices on the high court unanimously overturned the Colorado Supreme Court's decision, which sought to disqualify Trump over the "insurrection clause" of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who "engaged in insurrection" from holding office. This was the first case before the high court that tested Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a Civil War-era provision that sought to prevent former Confederates from holding office.
The high court wrote in its unanimous decision that states do not have the power to unilaterally ban individuals from holding federal office, determining that only Congress holds that authority.
"We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office," the unanimous opinion of the court reads. "But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency."
"Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse," they later added.
The high court did not wade into the question of whether or not Trump engaged in an insurrection on Jan. 6.
The decision is a major victory for Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner, ahead of Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen states hold their primary contests, accounting for roughly a third of the delegates needed to clinch the nomination. Colorado is one of the states holding its primary on Tuesday.
It will also take the wind out of the sails of other states that sought to remove Trump from the ballot, including Maine and Illinois, which did so following Colorado's decision.
DeSantis appoints new elections head as early voting begins
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Glen Gilzean as supervisor of elections for Orange County on Monday.
The post was formerly held by Bill Cowles, who retired earlier this year. Gilzean will serve the rest of Cowles' term, which will last until Jan. 6, 2025.
Gilzean is currently administrator of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District — which was created to replace the Reedy Creek District that previously oversaw the lands around Disney's property in the area.
Before that, Gilzean was appointed chairman of the Florida Commission on Ethics, as well as CEO of the Central Florida Urban League.
Now that he has been named Orange County's elections supervisor, Gilzean said in a Facebook post that Paula J. Hoisington will be acting district administrator of the Tourism Oversight District "during my unavailability."
Gilzean did not say in the post if he would hold both public offices simultaneously while serving as elections supervisor.
The Supervisor of Elections Office is currently preparing for the state's presidential preference primary, slated for March 19. Early voting in that election started Monday. Several municipalities in Central Florida are expected to hold ballot questions or other charter amendments during the primary as well.
Cowles was in office for 34 years and oversaw the fifth-largest county elections office in the state of Florida through multiple recounts.
Commission makes recommendations regarding Puerto Rican rights
A panel advising the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has issued its first findings on the future of Puerto Rico.
The panel says the island's current status as a U.S. Territory leaves its residents with diminished voting power and unable to fully access some federal programs.
There are nearly 1.2 million Puerto Ricans living in Florida. That’s more than a third of the total number living in Puerto Rico itself.
The Puerto Rico advisory committee to the Commission on Civil Rights took testimony on what Puerto Rico’s status means for its residents.
They heard from Puerto Ricans, historians, economists, and from advocates seeking to end Puerto Rico’s territorial status.
“The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights setting up the Puerto Rico Advisory Council is literally the first time that any entity within the federal executive is, in a detailed and systematic way studying this issue of territorial inequality, and eventually will come up with recommendations on what should be done about them,” Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Statehood Council George Laws Garca said.
The advisory committee issued a memo that alleges disparities between residents of the island and residents of the 50 states when it comes to receiving Medicaid, Medicare and disaster assistance.
One advocate who testified claimed that per-person spending on Medicaid in Puerto Rico is $1,980 annually, compared $6,060 annually in the states.
The memo blames the disparity on Congressional funding formulas for territories.
“Most elderly people receive federal health care benefits through Medicare," Garcia said. "In Puerto Rico, U.S. citizens on the island pay federal payroll taxes just like everyone else across the whole country, but the way that our elderly get treated under Medicare is different. And, one significant example of this is the fact that we don’t have the same nursing home care benefits under Medicare in Puerto Rico as you do stateside."
Despite being U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans who reside on the island cannot vote for President in the general election, and their sole representative in Congress does not have voting power on Capitol Hill.
In 2022, the U.S. House, then controlled by Democrats, passed the Puerto Rico Status Act to allow the island to become a state, an independent country, or a sovereign country aligned with the United States, depending on what residents want.
Though it had the support of the Biden White House, it was not taken up in the Senate.
The advisory committee is expected to issue two more memos on Puerto Rico to the Commission on Civil Rights. It is not known when the commission will issue its final recommendations.