Maine’s secretary of state on Thursday disqualified Donald Trump from appearing in the state’s presidential primary, becoming the second state after Colorado to ban the former president for his role in allegedly inciting a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, made the decision citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution — which disqualifies individuals who have “previously sworn to support the Constitution” and who have “engaged in rebellion or sedition” from holding office.
“The U.S. Constitution does not tolerate an attack on the foundations of our government,” Bellows wrote in the 34-page ruling, which was stayed pending a court ruling on the matter, the Associated Press reports.
Meanwhile, the 77-year-old Trump’s campaign has already indicated it plans to appeal the decision.
The ruling in Maine comes just over a week after the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from appearing at his own election.
Donald Trump disqualified from the primary election in Colorado after the court declared him unfit for the presidency
Colorado’s decision to bar the former president from the race was based on the same “sedition clause” mentioned in the Maine ruling.
“The majority of the court considers that [former] President Trump is disqualified from serving as President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Because he is disqualified, it would be wrong under Election Law for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate in the presidential primary,” the state Supreme Court said in its opinion.
The Michigan Supreme Court allows Trump to remain in the primary after Colorado disqualified him from the race
The Colorado court’s 4-3 decision stands until Jan. 4, a day before the March 5 presidential election ballot certification deadline. It was the first time that the so-called “sedition clause” was used to disqualify a presidential candidate, the Associated Press writes.
Donald Trump.
Sean Rayford/Getty
Trump announced that he would appeal against that decision as well.
Meanwhile, the Michigan Supreme Court recently refused to review an earlier Court of Appeals decision that allowed Trump to remain in the Republican presidential primary, after a group of voters argued that the former president should be disqualified from the ballot.
In its Wednesday order, the Michigan Supreme Court said it was “not persuaded” to consider overturning the lower court’s ruling.
California’s secretary of state also rejected efforts to remove Trump from its own presidential primary despite calls from the state’s lieutenant governor to do so, and on Thursday released a list of those whose names will appear on the ballot. Among them is Trump.
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In August, a federal grand jury indicted Trump on a four-count indictment investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol and other attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
According to the indictment, Trump is charged with one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy to violate the law.
The former president has been charged in four separate criminal cases since leaving office, each of which is awaiting trial.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education