Maine’s top elections official has eliminated former US President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 primary election, in a surprising decision based on the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionary prohibition.”
The decision makes Maine the second state to disqualify Trump from office, after the Colorado Supreme Court issued its surprising ruling that removed him from the ballot earlier this month. The move is a significant victory for Trump’s critics, who say they are trying to enforce a constitutional provision that was designed to protect the country from antidemocratic insurrectionists.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, issued the decision Thursday after presiding over an administrative hearing earlier this month on Trump’s eligibility for office. A bipartisan group of former state lawmakers filed the challenge against Trump.
Bellows’ decision can be appealed in state court, and the Trump side will almost certainly challenge this result.
“I do not come to this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote. “Democracy is sacred… I am aware that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of access to the polls based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, I am also aware that no presidential candidate has never before participated in an insurrection.
Most legal experts believe the U.S. Supreme Court will resolve the issue nationwide.
Still, Maine’s decision builds on the momentum that Trump’s critics have claimed after the Colorado ruling. Before Colorado, several other states, such as Michigan and Minnesotarejected similar efforts.
Ratified after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment says U.S. officials who “participate” in the insurrection cannot hold office in the future. But the provision is vague and does not say how the ban should be enforced.
Trump denies any wrongdoing regarding January 6, 2021 and says legal challenges are baseless.
In his decision, Bellows concluded that he has a legal obligation to adhere to the 14th Amendment’s insurrection ban and remove Trump from the primary vote.
“The oath I took to uphold the Constitution comes first and foremost, and my duty under Maine election laws … is to ensure that the candidates appearing on the primary ballot are qualified for the office they seek,” he said .
Explaining his reasoning, Bellows wrote that opponents presented compelling evidence that the Jan. 6 insurrection “occurred at the behest of” Trump, and that the U.S. Constitution “does not tolerate an attack on the foundation of our government.”
“The record establishes that Mr. Trump, over several months ending on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent the certification of the US election. 2020 and the peaceful celebration. transfer of power,” Bellows wrote. “Likewise, he concluded that Mr. Trump was aware of the likelihood of violence and at least initially supported its use, given that he encouraged it with inflammatory rhetoric and took no timely action to stop it.”