As the first day of the hearing at the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on Thursday (Feb 8) ended, the judges appeared sceptical towards the decision kicking former President Donald Trump off the ballot in the US state of Colorado for his role in the 2021 Capitol attack.

The nine Supreme Court justices heard arguments related to Trump's appeal of a December 19 ruling by Colorado's top court which barred him from the state's Republican primary ballot citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution due to his alleged participation in an insurrection.

The amendment in question bars "officers of the United States" who have engaged in "insurrection or rebellion" from holding office. The verdict in this case has major implications for the upcoming November 5 elections.

The justices - a six-three conservative majority including three judges appointed by Trump - expressed concerns about states having the power on their own to take sweeping actions which would affect a presidential election nationwide.

Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts told Jason Murray, who is representing the Colorado voters who brought the case, that if the Colorado court's decision is upheld, other states would also start disqualification proceedings for their own candidates from either of the parties.

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan asked Murray that the question to confront here is also if a "single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States," adding that "whether a former president is disqualified for insurrection, to be president again...it sounds awfully national to me."

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh questioned how Section 3 of the US Constitution would impact democracy, telling Murray that his position would be "disenfranchising voters to a significant degree".

Notably, justices spent little time discussing the former president's role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection when thousands of Trump supporters, in a bid to stop lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden's win, attacked the US Capitol.