The Maine Supreme Court declined to rule on whether former President Donald Trump would be disqualified from the state’s ballot, deferring to an expected Supreme Court decision.
Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows declared Trump ineligible to appear on the ballot on December 28, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Still, the decision was stayed by a state superior court judge.
On February 8, the United States Supreme Court will hear Trump’s appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s Dec. 19 ruling, which disqualified him from the state’s ballot.
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Special counsel Jack Smith secured a four-count indictment against Trump relating to his efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election in August on charges that included conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted and conspiracy to obstruct and impede the Jan. 6 proceedings corruptly.
Smith did not charge Trump with insurrection.
“The Secretary of State suggests that there is irreparable harm because a delay in certainty about whether Trump’s name should appear on the primary ballot will result in voter confusion,” the court said in the unanimous unsigned opinion. “This uncertainty is, however, precisely what guides our decision not to undertake immediate appellate review in this particular case. There are multiple alternative outcomes that would be more effectively addressed through the Superior Court’s order of remand to the Secretary of State.”
Following the ruling on Wednesday, Trump’s spokesman released a statement.
“This evening, in Maine, Crooked Joe Biden was dealt a devastating in blow in his desperate attempt to remove President Trump’s name from the ballot and to deprive tens of millions of Americans of the right to vote for the candidate of their choice. This disenfranchisement effort, lead by Crooked Joe’s Democrat acolyte and desperate partisan Secretary of State, was soundly rejected by Maine’s Supreme Court in a dismissal of the Secretary’s appeal of a prior order, which kept President Trump on the ballot. President Trump is confident that the the United States Supreme Court will ultimately be fair and eliminate these meritless, sham ‘14th Amendment’ cases once and for all. Until then, President Trump will continue to fight them off at every turn. Make America Great Again!” — Steven Cheung, Trump Spokesman
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