Maine becomes second state to bar Trump from 2024 ballot – WMTW Portland
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A decision on whether former president Donald Trump will be on Maine’s ballot has been made.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has ruled Trump’s primary petition is “invalid.” The decision was released Thursday evening, with Bellows concluding Trump does not qualify to hold the office of president under section three of the Fourteenth Amendment.
That section states:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
To support her decision, Bellows cites the months leading up to and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol.
>>READ THE FULL DECISION BY CLICKING HERE.
In her decision, she said Trump “used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power.”
When looking Trump’s requests for rioters to be peaceful, Bellows says it does not “erase conduct over the course of months.”
The decision may be appealed within five days. However, Bellows has suspended the effect of her decision until the Superior Court rules on any appeal or the time to appeal has expired.
Maine has become the second state to bar Trump from its 2024 ballot. Trump was barred from the ballot in Colorado. That ban is being appealed to US Supreme Court by the Colorado Republican Party.
Arguments supporting both sides were made at the statehouse earlier this month.
Wednesday afternoon, Trump’s legal team issued a request to Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to disqualify herself from ruling on his ballot eligibility, saying in part in a written statement:
“The Secretary is a completely biased Democrat partisan and a Biden supporter who is incapable of making a fair decision and allowing the people of Maine the right to vote for the candidate of their choosing.”
Wednesday morning, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected efforts to keep Trump off the ballot, and just over a week ago, Colorado’s Supreme Court made history by declaring Trump constitutionally ineligible to run for president, citing the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists holding public office.
Both outcomes could affect Secretary Bellows’ decision, which will likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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