Maine’s top election official appeals the ruling that delayed a decision on Trump’s ballot status
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s secretary of state is appealing a judge’s ruling that stayed her decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a similar case in Colorado.
Shenna Bellows concluded last month that Trump did not meet the voting requirements under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, citing his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. That made her the first election official to challenge the Republican former president banned voting under the 14th Amendment.
But a state judge this week sent the case back to Bellows, a Democrat, with instructions to await the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision before revoking, changing or upholding her decision.
On Friday, Bellows filed an appeal for an expedited review. She said she welcomes guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court, but also wanted to take advantage of review by the Maine Supreme Court.
“I know that both the constitutional and state authority issues are of great importance to many,” Bellows said in a statement Friday. “This call ensures that Maine’s highest court now has the opportunity to weigh in before ballots are counted, promoting confidence in our free, secure elections.”
Bellows previously said she will follow the rule of law and abide by any decision made by the court.
Trump remains on the ballot in Maine for the time being for the March 5 primary, given Saturday’s deadline for mailing overseas ballots. If the U.S. Supreme Court allows Trump to be excluded from the vote, Bellows must notify local election officials that votes cast for him will not be counted.
The nation’s highest court has never ruled on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars those “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. Some legal scholars say the post-Civil War clause applies to Trump because of his role in overturning the 2020 presidential election and encouraging his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Activists waged a campaign urging election officials to ban Trump under the clause.
Trump’s campaign denounced Bellows’ decision to remove him from the ballot, saying, “We are witnessing in real time the attempted theft of the election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter.”