In a concurring opinion, the three Democrat judges said the Colorado ruling would “create a chaotic state-by-state patchwork, at odds with our nation’s federalism principles”.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson said it would “defy logic” to give the states “new powers to determine who may hold the presidency”.
The Colorado Republican Party had requested that the Supreme Court make its judgment before Tuesday’s primary contest.
Jena Griswold, the Colorado Secretary of State, expressed disappointment at the ruling “stripping states of the authority” to enforce the disqualification clause, writing on social media: “Colorado should be able to bar oath-breaking insurrections from our ballot.”
Monday’s decision was largely expected after both Republican and Democrat judges expressed concern about individual states having the power to decide the presidential election during last month’s two-hour court session.
The Supreme Court’s decision came five days after it agreed to decide Mr Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution on charges related to trying to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Urging the court to again find in his favour, Mr Trump said on Monday: “The president has to have immunity or they won’t be able to function, they’ll be ceremonial.
“A president should be free and clear and frankly celebrated for having done a good job, not indicted four times and not gone after on a civil basis and not demanded to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines on something that was absolutely perfect.”
The court, which has a 6-3 Republican majority, acted in a speedier manner in deciding the ballot disqualification issue, benefiting Mr Trump, than it has in resolving the immunity question. Delays in deciding the immunity issue could help the former president by delaying his criminal trial.
