Maine's secretary of state has said she would welcome the Supreme Court to review its decision to disqualify Donald Trump from the primary ballot, admitting the move was unprecedented.
Sheena Bellows ruled Thursday that Trump could not appear on their ballot, in a move that mirrored the December 19 decision by the Colorado Supreme Court.
Both Colorado and Maine found that Trump had participated in an insurrection and was thus ineligible to hold office, under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
But Michigan found the opposite on Wednesday, and California sided with Michigan on Thursday evening, ruling that Trump could remain on the ballot.
Bellows told CNN Thursday evening that she knew her decision was historic, but stood by it.
Maine Secretary of State Sheena Bellows on Thursday defended her decision to remove Trump from her state's primary ballot
“The oath I swore to protect the Constitution comes first,” she said.
“The textual analysis of the Constitution and the facts presented to me at the hearing, which Maine law required me to hold, led me to this decision.”
Asked by host John Berman about the Trump campaign accusing her of “stealing the election and disenfranchising the American voter,” Bellows said she made her decision with great care.
'I am so aware – and I said this in my decision – that this is unprecedented.
“No Secretary of State has ever denied a presidential candidate access to ballots under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
“But no presidential candidate has ever been involved in an insurrection and has been disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.”
Bellows, who ran her own nonprofit consulting firm before entering politics, has no legal training but said she was fulfilling her duty under Maine law.
“The weight of the evidence presented under Maine law in the Section 336 challenge filed made clear that Mr. Trump was aware of the tinder he had laid in a multi-month effort to to question the legitimacy of the 2020 elections,” she said. .
'And then, in an unprecedented and tragic series of events, chose to light a match.'
Trump's campaign accused Bellows of attempting to 'steal the election'
She said it didn't matter under Maine law that he had no criminal conviction for rioting.
“During the hearing we reviewed the evidence. We have assessed the facts and the law.
“And certainly the question of whether Mr. Trump was involved in the insurrection is closer than the question of whether January 6, 2021 was an insurrection, which is also what I have judged.
“But the question of whether Mr. Trump has been found guilty, the applicability of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, is not about whether an office seeker has been convicted of a crime.
“We looked at a Civil War precedent. We looked at the law, we looked at the facts, we looked at what was brought up in this hearing specific to Maine law.”
Bellows said she was “obligated” to assess voters' eligibility, including ensuring they met age and citizenship requirements. Likewise, she had to assess whether candidates were eligible — and she pointed out that she determined Chris Christie was ineligible because he didn't have enough signatories to get on the ballot.
And she said she would welcome the U.S. Supreme Court making the final decision on legal issues.
Trump is expected to refer the decision in Colorado and Maine to higher courts.
“I certainly think the Supreme Court of the United States is the ultimate interpreter of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” she said.
“So yes, I think ideally they will govern. And they haven't done that yet.
“But if they rule, we will certainly abide by their ruling.”
Bellows' decision will not take effect immediately because it gives Trump time to appeal.
Trump's team said Thursday evening that they will appeal the decision, as they did in Colorado. On Thursday, the Republican Party in Colorado appealed their Supreme Court's decision, meaning he's back on the ballot until an expected ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled Thursday that Donald Trump should be disqualified from the March primary.
The decision came after a group of former Maine lawmakers said Trump should be disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — a provision of the U.S. Constitution that bars people from holding office if they engage in “insurrection or rebellion' after previously taking a curse. oath to the United States.
The ruling, which could be appealed to a state court, applies only to the March primary but could affect Trump's standing in the November general election.
It will likely increase pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve questions about Trump's eligibility across the country under the constitutional provision.
Trump has been charged in a federal case as well as in Georgia for his role in overturning the 2020 election, but he has not been charged with insurrection in connection with the Jan. 6 attack.
He leads the polls by a wide margin in the race for the Republican nomination in 2024.
The Republican Party of Colorado asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to review the lower court's ruling that disqualified Trump from participating in the state's presidential elections because of his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Jena Griswold, Colorado's secretary of state, announced Thursday that Trump will remain on the ballot for the time being, which will be printed on Jan. 5 — unless the Supreme Court upholds the lower court's ruling or otherwise declines to hear the appeal to take.
The Dec. 19 4-3 ruling said Trump would not appear on the state's primary ballot, under a 155-year-old 14th Amendment clause that bans from office those “engaged in insurrection.”
While it's unlikely that Colorado's 10 Electoral College votes will go to the Republican candidate in the general election anyway — and the state isn't very important in the Republican Party's primaries — the ruling could set a precedent for a slew of other states that want to remove Trump from the Republican Party. mood.
Donald Trump will remain in Colorado's presidential primaries for the time being as the Republican Party's appeal puts on hold the Colorado ruling that disqualified the former president from running for office due to involvement in “insurrection.”
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (pictured July 8, 2022) announced that Trump will remain on the ballot, but expressed support for her state's Supreme Court ruling, saying, “The Colorado Supreme Court is right had…I urge the US Supreme Court to act quickly given the upcoming primaries
However, the Michigan Supreme Court has already ruled after Colorado to leave the ex-president on the ballot for the state's primaries – and the Midwest Swing State is much more important to capture the White House in 2024.
Louisiana became the latest state to file a lawsuit seeking to keep Trump off the ballot in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
“Donald Trump engaged in an insurrection and was constitutionally disqualified from voting in Colorado,” Griswold said in a news release.
“The Colorado Supreme Court got it right. This decision is now being appealed,” she continued.
“I urge the U.S. Supreme Court to act quickly in light of the upcoming presidential election.”
The Colorado Supreme Court has stayed its ruling until January 4 to allow time for the appeals process.