December 29, 2023
Maine Blocks Trump’s Ballot Access Over Capitol Riot
Trump's camp called the decision "partisan election interference.”
Former President Donald Trump’s camp isn’t happy about his being removed from Maine’s upcoming 2024 voting ballot.
The Associated Press reports that Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows followed in Colorado’s footsteps in removing Trump from the ballot under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Bellows’ decision marks the first election official to take action on deciding whether Trump will maintain eligibility to return to the Oval Office.
Her 34-page decision came after finding Trump could no longer run for the job due to his role in the violent Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots under Section 3 for those who “engaged in insurrection.” Some residents, including lawmakers, challenged his ballot position.
“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote. “I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”
Once Trump’s camp caught wind of the decision, they called it “partisan election interference.”
“We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said.
According to Politico, Cheung went after Bellows in a statement, attacking her career as “a former ACLU attorney, a virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat.” Chung said his team “will quickly file a legal objection in state court to prevent this atrocious decision in Maine from taking effect.”
In a joint statement, lawmakers who filed the petition, Republican Kimberley Rosen, independent Thomas Saviello, and Democrat Ethan Strimling, praised Bellows’ decision. “Secretary Bellows showed great courage in her ruling, and we look forward to helping her defend her judicious and correct decision in court,” their statement read. “No elected official is above the law or our constitution, and today’s ruling reaffirms this most important of American principles.”
After Colorado’s historic decision, it is even more likely that the Supreme Court will step in to make a formal decision. Meanwhile, some Republicans were repulsed by the state’s decision. “The Secretary of State’s decision would deny thousands of Mainers the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice, and it should be overturned,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins wrote on Twitter.
President Joe Biden commented on Colorado’s ruling, saying it was “evident” of Trump’s Jan. 6 participation but “whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision.”
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