Independents split on whether Trump should remain on ballot: Poll

Independents are split on whether former President Donald Trump should remain on the presidential ballot, as Colorado and Maine move to remove Trump, claiming he is ineligible under the 14th Amendment.

The Colorado Supreme Court and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows both claim Trump committed an act of insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and is, therefore, ineligible to be president under section three of the 14th Amendment. In a CBS News poll released on Saturday, adults were split 54%-46% in favor of keeping Trump on the ballot, with Independents saying 56%-44% that the former president should appear on the presidential ballot.

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Republicans heavily favor keeping Trump on the ballot (90%-10%), while Democrats overwhelmingly believe Trump’s name should be removed from the ballot (81%-19%).

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Trump’s appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court decision next month, as the former president’s campaign has railed against the efforts to remove him from the ballot as an “unAmerican, unconstitutional act of election interference.”

Efforts to remove the former president from the 2024 presidential ballot are part of the various legal battles Trump faces in the coming year, as he looks likely to be the Republican nominee for president and face off against President Joe Biden in a rematch of the 2020 election in November.

The allegations Trump committed an “insurrection” at the heart of the claims he is ineligible stem from his rhetoric and actions leading up to and during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has not been charged with acts of insurrection in court, though he does face criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election from Special Counsel Jack Smith.

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In the poll, which was released on the third anniversary of the riot, adults are split on whether future election losers will accept results peacefully or resort to violence.

Republicans and Democrats both narrowly believe future election losers will be peaceful, 56%-44% and 53%-47%, respectively. Independents are less optimistic, believing future elections will see violence from the losing side, 54%-46%.