Maine’s top election official has defended removing Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 election ballot, describing her decision as part of her “sacred obligation” to uphold the law.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows cited the US Constitution to deem Mr. Trump ineligible for his role in the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
She told the BBC she is hopeful the US Supreme Court will settle the issue.
The Trump campaign has vowed to appeal the controversial decision.
Two states, Maine and Colorado, have now banned the former president from the electoral ballot. Both decisions are on hold, however, until legal challenges make their way through the courts.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, has described both Maine and Colorado’s decisions as election meddling. He said on Thursday that the rulings were “a hostile assault on American democracy”.
Ms Bellows- a Democrat – says in her order, published on Thursday, that Mr. Trump must be removed from the state’s Republican primary ballot because of the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause.
This section of the constitutional amendment, which is historically tied to the end of the US Civil War, prevents anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding federal office. Ms. Bellows’ order cites Mr Trump’s efforts to push a months-long “false narrative of election fraud” ahead of the 6 January riot as justification for his removal.
Under Maine law, any registered voter can challenge a candidate’s qualifications to be on the ballot. In Mr. Trump’s case, the challenge came from three former state senators – two Republicans and a Democrat.
“That requires me, under Maine election law, to hold an administrative hearing to review the evidence and the facts,” Ms. Bellows said, adding that both sides were represented by attorneys. “I was then required to review that evidence and hearing record, the law and the Constitution ultimately. That is my sacred obligation.”
Ms. Bellows – a Democrat – acknowledged the unprecedented nature of her decision, noting that she is “mindful that no Secretary of State has ever denied a presidential candidate ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution”.
She added that she is “also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever engaged in insurrection”. BBC
