Maine’s Democratic secretary of state on Thursday removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause, becoming the first elections official to take such unilateral action since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prepared whether Trump is eligible to return to the White House.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’s decision follows a Colorado Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that barred Trump from the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. That decision has been put on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether Trump is barred by a Civil War-era provision that bars people “involved in insurrection” from holding office.
The Trump campaign said it would appeal Bellows’ decision in Maine’s state courts, and Bellows suspended his decision until the court system ruled on the case. Ultimately, it is likely that the nation’s highest court will make the final decision on whether Trump will appear on the ballot in Maine and other states.
Bellows found that Trump can no longer run for his previous job because his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, violates Section 3, which bars people “engaged in insurrection” from office. Bellows made the ruling after some state residents, including a bipartisan group of former lawmakers, challenged Trump’s position on the ballot.
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“I have not reached this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote in her 34-page decision. “I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever denied a presidential candidate a ballot on the basis of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, I also note that no presidential candidate has ever joined an insurrection before.
The Trump campaign immediately condemned the decision. “We are watching in real time as the election is being stolen and American voters are being disenfranchised,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
While Maine only has four electoral votes, it is one of two states to split them. Trump won one of Maine’s electors in 2020, so if he were to emerge as the Republican general election nominee, he would be taken off the ballot there, which could have less implications in a race that was narrowly contested. Expected to be finalized.
“Secretary Bellows showed great courage in her decision, and we look forward to helping her defend her prudent and correct decision in court. No elected official is above the law or our Constitution, and today’s decision reaffirms this most important tenet of American principles,” Republican Kimberly Rosen, Independent Thomas Saviello and Democrat Ethan Strimling said in a statement.
The Trump campaign on Tuesday requested that Bellows disqualify herself from the case because she had previously tweeted that Jan. 6 was an “insurrection” and expressed sadness over the impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate following the Capitol attack. Trump was acquitted. He refused to step aside.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber faced political pressure to reject Trump’s candidacy in the state, including from Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, a fellow Democrat, who in a December 20 letter called on her to remove the former president “every Urged to explore legal options. California ballot. Weber later responded that she was guided by “the rule of law”, and indicated that the proper venue to resolve voting challenges was the courts.
The timing of the US Supreme Court’s decision is unclear, but both sides want it soon. Colorado’s Republican Party appealed the ruling to the Colorado High Court on Wednesday, urging an expedited schedule, and Trump is also expected to file an appeal within weeks. Plaintiffs in the Colorado case on Thursday urged the nation’s highest court to adopt an even faster schedule so it can rule before March 5, known as Super Tuesday, when Republican President Donald Trump will vote in 16 states, including Colorado and Maine. Voting is to be held for nomination to process.
This clause was added in 1868 to prevent defeated Confederates from returning to their former positions of power in local and federal government. It bars anyone who breaks the oath to “support” the Constitution from holding office. This provision was used to bar a wide range of ex-Confederates from positions ranging from local sheriff to Congress, but it fell into disuse after the 1872 congressional amnesty for most former Confederates.
