The Supreme Court took a principled—and unified stand against interference with democracy. In a 9-0 per curiam decision, the court ruled that the people get to choose their candidates for president, not state judiciaries, prosecutors, or bureaucrats.

Colorado had disqualified Donald Trump under the 14th Amendment by declaring him an insurrectionist. The unanimous court struck down that effort, rebuking their usurpation of Congress’ authority. “States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency,” they ruled. In fact, as the court pointed out, the 14th Amendment exists to limit state authority, not to expand it to deny voters their choice of candidates for federal office.

In short, the Supreme Court defended actual democracy and the norms of the republic. The effort to deny Trump access to the ballot despite the support of his party’s voters was the real attack on democracy, an attempt to set up the judiciary as a star chamber inserted into the electoral process.