Maine became the second state to bar Donald Trump from its primary ballot, when Secretary of State Shenna Bellows decided Thursday that the former president does not quality to be a candidate because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. "I am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment," wrote Bellows, a Democrat. "I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection." Trump can appeal the decision to Maine's Superior Court, the New York Times reports, and his campaign immediately said he'll do that.
Colorado's Supreme Court reached the same conclusion, also based on Section 3 of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment, and that ruling is being appealed. The Michigan Supreme Court, on the other hand, declined to take up the issue, leaving Trump on that state's ballot. State-by-state decisions could continue to be made, per the Washington Post, or the US Supreme Court could settle the matter for everyone. Bellows suspended her decision until the Maine courts rule on it, per the AP. Minnesota also let Trump stay on the primary ballot but didn't close the door on barring him from the general election ballot, per the Post.
"We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter," a Trump campaign spokesman said in a statement. The case was brought by a group including former Maine public officials, who issued a statement saying the secretary of state "showed great courage." Bellows told the AP on Thursday night that she wasn't influenced by politics in reaching her conclusion. "My decision was based exclusively on the record presented to me at the hearing and was in no way influenced by my political affiliation or personal views about the events of Jan. 6, 2021," she said. (More Election 2024 stories.)
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