Maine's secretary of state said she would like to see the Supreme Court review her decision to bar Donald Trump from the primary, acknowledging that the move was unprecedented.
Sheena Bellows ruled Thursday that Trump should not be on her ballot, mirroring the Colorado Supreme Court's Dec. 19 decision.
Both Colorado and Maine found that Trump had participated in an insurrection and was therefore ineligible to hold office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
But Michigan found otherwise on Wednesday, and California sided with Michigan on Thursday evening, ruling that Trump could remain on the ballot.
Bellows told CNN on Thursday evening that she knew her decision was historic but stood by it.
Maine Secretary of State Sheena Bellows on Thursday defended her decision to remove Trump from her state's primary
Shenna Bellows, after removing Trump from the ballot: “No Secretary of State has ever removed a presidential candidate's access to the ballot on the basis of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. “But no presidential candidate has ever participated in an insurrection.”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 29, 2023
“The oath I swore to uphold the Constitution comes first,” she said.
“The textual analysis of the Constitution and the facts presented to me at the hearing to which I was required under Maine law led me to this decision.”
When asked by moderator John Berman about the Trump campaign, in which he accused it of “stealing the election and disenfranchising the American voter,” Bellows said she made her decision with great care.
“I am so aware – and I said this in my decision – that it is unprecedented.”
“No Secretary of State has ever denied a presidential candidate access to the ballot based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.”
“But no presidential candidate has ever participated in an insurrection and been disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.”
Bellows, who ran her own nonprofit consulting firm before entering politics, has no legal training but said she is doing her duty under Maine law.
“The weight of the evidence presented under Maine law in the Section 336 lawsuit made it clear that Mr. Trump was aware of the tinder he was creating in his months-long effort to undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 election to ask the question,” she said.
“And then, in an unprecedented and tragic series of events, he decided to light a match.”
Trump's campaign accused Bellows of attempted “election theft”
She said that under Maine law it doesn't matter that he didn't have a criminal conviction for insurrection.
“At the hearing we reviewed the evidence. We checked the facts and the law.
“And certainly the question of whether Mr. Trump was involved in the insurrection is closer than the question of whether January 6, 2021 was an insurrection, which I also decided.”
“But the question of whether Mr. Trump was found guilty, the applicability of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, does not depend on whether an appointee was convicted of a crime.”
“We looked at the precedent in the Civil War. “We looked at the law, we looked at the facts, we looked at what was presented in this hearing specifically for Maine law.”
Bellows said she had a “duty” to assess whether voters were eligible to vote, such as making sure they met age and citizenship requirements. Likewise, she had to assess whether candidates were electable – and she noted that she concluded that Chris Christie was ineligible because he did not have enough signatories to take part in the election.
And she said she would like to see the U.S. Supreme Court make the final decision on the legal issues.
Trump is expected to refer the Colorado and Maine decisions to higher courts.
“I certainly believe that the Supreme Court of the United States is the ultimate interpreter of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” she said.
“So yeah, I think ideally they will rule.” And they haven't done that yet.
“But if they govern, we will certainly abide by their decision.”
Bellows' decision does not take effect immediately because it gives Trump time to appeal.
Trump's team said Thursday evening that they will appeal the decision, as they will in Colorado. On Thursday, the Republican Party in Colorado appealed its Supreme Court's decision, meaning he will be back on the ballot pending an expected U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled Thursday that Donald Trump should be removed from the March primary
The decision came after a group of former Maine lawmakers said Trump should be disqualified based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment – a provision of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits people from holding office if they disqualify themselves engage in an “insurrection or rebellion” after first swearing an oath to the United States.
The ruling, which can be appealed to a state court, only applies to the March primary election but could affect Trump's status for the November general election.
This will likely increase pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve questions nationwide about Trump's eligibility under the constitutional provision.
Trump has been indicted in both a federal case and in Georgia for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election, but he has not been charged with insurrection in connection with the Jan. 6 attack.
He is leading opinion polls by a wide margin in the race for the Republican nomination in 2024.
The Colorado Republican Party asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to address the lower court's ruling that barred Trump from running in the state's presidential election because of his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Jena Griswold, Colorado's secretary of state, announced Thursday that Trump would remain on the ballot for now, which goes to print on Jan. 5 — unless the Supreme Court affirms the lower court's decision or otherwise declines to hear the appeal .
The 4-3 ruling on Dec. 19 said Trump would not appear on the state's primary ballot under a 155-year-old clause of the 14th Amendment that bans from office those who have “participated in insurrection.” .
Although it's unlikely that Colorado's 10 Electoral College votes will go to the Republican candidate in the general election anyway – and the state isn't particularly important in GOP primaries – the ruling could set a precedent for a whole host of other states, those who want to remove Trump from office vote.
Donald Trump remains in Colorado's presidential election for now, as the GOP's appeal puts on hold Colorado's decision that barred the former president from running because of his involvement in the “insurrection.”
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (pictured July 8, 2022) announced that Trump would remain on the ballot, but expressed support for her state's Supreme Court ruling, saying: “The Supreme Court of Colorado got it right…I demand it.” The U.S. Supreme Court will act quickly as the presidential primaries approach.
However, the Michigan Supreme Court has already decided after Colorado to keep the ex-president on the ballot for the state's primaries – and the swing state in the Midwest is much more important for entering the White House in 2024.
Louisiana was the latest state to file a lawsuit to keep Trump off the ballot in connection with the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.
“Donald Trump participated in the insurrection and was barred from voting in Colorado under the Constitution,” Griswold said in a news release.
“The Colorado Supreme Court got it right.” That decision is now being appealed,” she continued.
“I call on the U.S. Supreme Court to act quickly as the presidential election approaches.”
The Colorado Supreme Court has stayed or stayed its ruling until Jan. 4 to allow time for the appeal process.