Six Colorado voters on Wednesday filed a lawsuit seeking to block former President Donald Trump from the ballot in 2024, arguing his actions leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol disqualify him under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. 

The plaintiffs are all Republicans or not affiliated with a political party. They include former state, federal and local officials.

The lawsuit, which was filed in state court in Denver, names Trump and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold as defendants.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment disqualifies anyone from holding public office if they took an oath of office and later “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” 

“Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and interfere with the peaceful transfer of power were part of an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States,” the lawsuit says. “Because Trump took these actions after he swore an oath to support the Constitution, Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits him from being President and from qualifying for the Colorado ballot for President in 2024.”

Among the plaintiffs are former Colorado House and Senate Majority Leader Norma Anderson and former U.S. Rep. Claudine Schneider of Rhode Island — both Republicans — and conservative columnist and Republican activist Krista Kafer. 

The plaintiffs are being represented by the ethics watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and three law firms. Two of the attorneys involved are former Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olson and longtime Republican election lawyer Mario Nicolais.

“Spending 19 years as a state legislator and serving in leadership gave me the opportunity to work across the aisle and to always work to protect the freedoms our Constitution has given us as citizens,” Anderson said in a statement. “I am proud to continue that work by bringing this lawsuit and ensuring the eligibility of candidates on Colorado ballots.”

Said Schneider, who now lives in Colorado: "In my decade of service in the House of Representatives, I certified multiple presidential elections and saw firsthand the importance of ethics, the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power in our democracy. This lawsuit is crucial to protecting and fortifying those fundamental democratic values, and I'm honored to be a part of it."

In a call with reporters, CREW President Noah Bookbinder said the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause aims to safeguard democracy.

“It ensures that those who attacked our democratic system of government by engaging in insurrection not be put in charge of it,” he said. “Trump endangered our democracy when he attempted to overturn the will of millions of American voters. It's now our responsibility as Americans to invoke this key constitutional provision to protect the Republic.”

The Trump campaign and Colorado secretary of state’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

When asked last week about efforts to disqualify Trump under the 14th Amendment, a campaign spokesman told Spectrum News in an email: “Joe Biden, Democrats, and Never Trumpers are scared to death because they see polls showing President Trump winning in the general election. The people who are pursuing this absurd conspiracy theory and political attack on President Trump are stretching the law beyond recognition much like the political prosecutors in New York, Georgia, and DC. There is no legal basis for this effort except in the minds of those who are pushing it.”

Some conservative constitutional law experts are among those who argue Trump’s role in Jan. 6 should make him ineligible to return to presidency. But other legal experts disagree.

Trump faces criminal charges in federal court and in Georgia over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Last year, CREW represented a group of New Mexico residents who successfully sued to have Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin removed from office under the 14th Amendment over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

The founder of the group Cowboys for Trump, Griffin was convicted of trespassing on Capitol grounds during the riot. He was sentenced to 14 days in jail, a fine, community service and a year of supervised release.

The ruling against Griffin declared the Capitol attack an insurrection.

Colorado is one of a handful of challenges to Trump’s eligibility, and more are expected. The Supreme Court could ultimately take up the issue.

New Hampshire officials said last week the state attorney general’s office is “carefully reviewing” whether Trump is disqualified from serving as president again.

In Michigan, Robert Davis, an activist known for filing lawsuits against state politicians, has asked Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to leave Trump off the ballot.

CREW and another nonprofit group, Free Speech for People, have also been urging election officials to declare Trump disqualified and are preparing lawsuits and election board complaints.

Bookbinder said Wednesday that the Colorado lawsuit “won’t be the last action that we bring.”

“This is an issue that needs to be adjudicated and not every state provides a clear mechanism or an early mechanism,” said Donald Sherman, CREW’s executive vice president and chief counsel. “And I think Republican primary voters deserve to know whether a leading candidate is eligible to serve in the office that they’re seeking. So we hope this case will go a long way towards answering that question in a court of law.”