12/29/2023 01:43 (current 12/29/2023 01:50)
Donald Trump could be prevented from participating in the primary elections in Maine ©APA/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA
The highest electoral authority in the US state of Maine on Thursday (local time) excluded Donald Trump from participating in the primaries for next year's US presidential elections. After Colorado, it is the second state to expel the former president due to his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump's campaign team announced that it would quickly appeal the decision.
Maine's Secretary of State for Elections, Democrat Shenna Bellows, concluded that Trump incited an insurrection when he spread false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and then urged his supporters to march on the Capitol to protest to prevent confirmation of the results. electoral. Bellows has put his ruling on hold until the state Supreme Court rules on the matter.
The decision came after a group of former Maine lawmakers said Trump should be disqualified because the U.S. Constitution prohibits people from holding office if they have engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” after taking the oath of office to the United States.
The decision, which can be appealed in state court, applies only to the March primary election. But it could affect Trump's status in the November general election. Trump is clearly leading in the polls in the race for the Republican nomination.
On December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court barred Trump from the primary, making him the first candidate in US history to be ruled ineligible for president due to the insurrection. Trump said he will appeal the Colorado Supreme Court ruling. The Colorado Republican Party filed its own appeal to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Similar attempts to disqualify Trump in other states were rejected. The Supreme Court of Michigan, a crucial state in the general election, declined to hear a challenge to Trump's eligibility as recently as Wednesday.