Former President Donald Trump is taking legal action to overturn the decision made by Maine’s Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, to remove him from the 2024 primary ballot due to his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.
Trump has appealed the ruling to the Maine Supreme Court, arguing that Bellows had no jurisdiction in the matter and requesting that he be included on the March 5 primary ballot.
Additionally, Trump is expected to appeal a similar ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court directly to the US Supreme Court, challenging his eligibility to run for the presidency in a related case.
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Trump’s legal team argues that Bellows abused her discretion and relied on unreliable evidence in making her ruling.
They further claim that she demonstrated bias against Trump, citing her documented history of prior statements prejudging the issue at hand. Trump’s appeal to the Maine Supreme Court seeks to challenge Bellows’ decision and require her to include him on the primary ballot.
Bellows has stated that she has confidence in her decision and believes in upholding the rule of law.
“The secretary should have recused herself due to her bias against President Trump, as demonstrated by a documented history of prior statements prejudging the issue presented,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.
“Even if Maine law authorized the Secretary to consider challenges to President Trump’s candidacy under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment (which it did not), The Secretary could not properly have considered Section Three and erred as a matter of law in doing so,” Trump’s appeal states.
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Bellows told The Associated Press on Tuesday that her ruling was on hold pending the outcome of the expected appeal.
“This is part of the process. I have confidence in my decision and confidence in the rule of law. This is Maine’s process and it’s really important that first and foremost every single one of us who serves in government uphold the Constitution and the laws of the state,” she said.
In addition to the appeal in Maine, Trump is also appealing a similar ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court directly to the US Supreme Court. The Colorado court’s decision, in a 4-3 ruling, marked the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot.
Trump’s critics have filed numerous lawsuits in multiple states seeking to disqualify him from running, but until now, none have succeeded. The Colorado ruling has sparked concerns among conservatives that Section 3 could be misused for partisan purposes.
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Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has rarely been invoked in recent history. It originated in the aftermath of the Civil War and was primarily used to prevent former Confederates from holding public office.
The provision states that anyone who swore an oath to “support” the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection cannot hold office unless approved by a two-thirds vote of Congress.
Legal scholars believe that the only application of Section 3 in the 20th century was to block the seating of a socialist representative who opposed US involvement in World War I.
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