Maine has blocked Donald Trump from its presidential primary ballot, becoming the second state to bar the former president from running, under a constitutional provision that prevents insurrectionists from holding office.
On 19 December, a decision made by Colorado’s supreme court removed Trump from that state’s primary ballot, citing the same constitutional clause and setting up a legal showdown at the US supreme court.
Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, examined the case after a group of citizens challenged Trump’s eligibility and concluded that the former president should be disqualified for inciting an insurrection on 6 January 2021.
“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” said Bellows, a Democrat, in the decision. “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. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”
Trump is the current Republican frontrunner, and his campaign has vowed to appeal the decision. “Make no mistake, these partisan election interference efforts are a hostile assault on American democracy,” said Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesperson, in a statement, also accusing Bellows of being a “a virulent leftist”.
Unlike in other states, Bellows, who oversees elections in Maine, was required to make an initial determination about disqualification before it was considered by the courts. Bellows has suspended the effect of her decision until the state’s highest court rules on any appeal.
The decision, if it takes effect, would apply only to the state’s March primary, but its conclusion would probably also affect Trump’s status for the November 2024 general election. Both Maine and Colorado are Democratic-leaning states, which means Joe Biden will likely win in both. However, while Maine has just four electoral votes, it’s one of two states to split them. Trump won one of Maine’s electors in 2020.
Both the Maine and Colorado decision are based on section 3 of the 14th amendment, which bans from office those who “engaged in insurrection”. The provision, which was instituted after the civil war, was intended to prevent Confederates from retaking power.
Legal scholars have argued that the clause should apply to Trump because of his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and obstruct the peaceful transfer of power. The clause has rarely been used and has not previously been tested on the office of the presidency.
Lawsuits in Minnesota and New Hampshire arguing that Trump should be excluded from the ballot based on the 14th amendment were dismissed. In Michigan, plaintiffs appealed to the state’s supreme court after lower courts declined to disqualify Trump.
The US supreme court may ultimately resolve the issue nationwide. The Colorado Republican party has already appealed to the country’s top court and Trump is expected to file his own appeal over the disqualification in both states.
The highest court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority, which includes three justices nominated by Trump.
