After Colorado, now Maine: Ex-President Trump has been removed from the primary election ballot in a second US state – because of his role in the storming of the Capitol in 2021. The decision is likely to be challenged in court.
The top electoral authority in the US state of Maine has excluded Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from taking part in the primaries for next year’s US presidential election. The politician responsible for elections in Maine, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, removed Trump’s name from the ballot, citing his role in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump incited an insurrection when he spread false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and then urged his supporters to march on the Capitol to stop lawmakers from certifying the vote, Bellows, a Democrat, said in her statement.
Appeal to the Constitution
Trump’s opponents in several states are citing the 14th Amendment to the Federal Constitution, which dates back to the Civil War. It prohibits people from holding office if they have committed “insurrection or rebellion” after taking an oath to the United States. Trump’s critics see his involvement in the storming of the Capitol as proven.
Bellows wrote in a 34-page statement that she did not come to her decision lightly. “I am aware that no Secretary of State has ever barred a presidential candidate from participating in an election under Section Three of the 14th Amendment. I am also aware that no presidential candidate has ever participated in an insurrection.”
Appeal of decision in Colorado
Bellows doesn’t have the last word. Your decision may be appealed in Maine courts. In addition, the US Supreme Court is likely to decide in the final instance whether Trump can run again next year.
Maine is the second state to expel the former president. Last week, the Supreme Court in Colorado ruled in a sensational decision that the Republican was not allowed to take part in his party’s presidential primaries in the state because of his role in the storming of the Capitol. Courts in the state of Michigan, however, decided differently.
Republicans in Colorado appealed the decision this week; Trump himself announced that he would appeal to the US Supreme Court.