Maine Bars Trump From Ballot

December 29, 2023 5:01 am

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s Democratic secretary of state is removing former President Donald Trump from that state’s primary ballot. Shenna Bellows becomes the first election official to take action unilaterally to bar Trump under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment. The Civil War-era clause bans those who “engaged in insurrection” from office. It’s the same provision cited recently by the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Trump from the ballot in that state. The Trump campaign says it will appeal Bellows’ decision to Maine’s state courts, and Bellows suspended her ruling until that court system rules. The U.S. Supreme Court will likely rule on whether the provision applies to Trump and whether he is still eligible to return to the White House.