Maine’s top election official on Thursday disqualified Donald Trump from the state’s ballot in next year’s U.S. presidential primary election, becoming the second state to disqualify the former president for his role in the attack on January 6, 2021 against the Capitol.
Published on: Amended:
2 minutes
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, concluded that Assetfront-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024, incited insurrection by spreading false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election, then urged his supporters to march to the Capitol to stop lawmakers from certifying the vote.
Bellows put his decision on hold until the state Supreme Court rules on the issue.
The decision came after a group of former Maine lawmakers said Trump should be disqualified based on a provision of U.S. law. Constitution which prohibits people from holding office if they have engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” after taking the oath of office to the United States.
The decision, which can be appealed in state court, only applies to the March primary election, but it could affect Trump’s status for the November general election. election. That will likely increase pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve questions regarding Trump’s nationwide electability under the constitutional provision known as Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Trump has been charged in both a federal case and in Georgia for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election, but he has not been charged with insurrection related to the 2020 election. January 6 attack. He widely leads opinion polls in the race for the Republican nomination in 2024.
Colorado’s highest court Trump was disqualified from the state’s primary ballot on December 19, making him the first candidate in U.S. history to be deemed ineligible for the presidency for engaging in an insurrection.
Trump vowed to appeal the Colorado decision to the Supreme Court and called the election challenges “undemocratic.” The Colorado Republican Party filed its own appeal to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Similar attempts to disqualify Trump in other states have been rejected. The highest court in Michigan, a key battleground state for the general election, declined Wednesday to hear an appeal over Trump’s eligibility to hold office.
Maine is considered likely Democratic by nonpartisan election forecasters, meaning president Joe Biden should win the state. But Trump won one electoral vote in Maine in both the 2016 and 2020 elections because of an unusual setup that allows the state to split its four Electoral College votes.
Candidates must win 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency.
Advocacy groups and some anti-Trump voters have challenged Trump’s candidacy in several states under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was passed after the American Civil War to prevent former Confederates from serving in government.
Unlike other states, Bellows, who oversees Maine’s elections, had to make an initial decision regarding disqualification before it was considered by the courts.
Trump’s lawyers challenged his involvement in the insurrection and argued that his remarks to his supporters on the day of the 2021 riot were protected by his right to free speech. His legal team also made several procedural arguments, including that Section 3 eligibility was not mentioned in the required paperwork Trump filed to get on the ballot in the state.
A United States Supreme Court ruling in the case Colorado this case could solve the problem nationally. The court’s 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump.
(Reuters)
