Maine court puts Trump ballot decision on hold until after Supreme Court acts
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Trump has decried the ballot challenges as an undemocratic attempt at election interference by his political adversaries.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - A Maine court on Jan 17 said the state should wait for the US Supreme Court to rule on Donald Trump’s appeal against his disqualification from Colorado’s Republican primary ballot before reevaluating a similar decision in the north-east state.
Maine State Superior Court Judge Michaela Murphy ordered Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, to reassess her decision to bar the former US president from the primary ballot within 30 days after the Supreme Court rules.
Judge Murphy found that the Supreme Court’s decision to take the Colorado case “changes everything about the order in which these issues should be decided, and by which court”.
Ms Bellows in December determined that Trump, the front runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was ineligible to hold office again under a provision in the US Constitution that bars people who have engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding office.
A Bellows spokesperson said her office is reviewing the decision and had no additional comment. A Trump spokesperson called the ruling a “correct action”.
“We remain steadfast in our opposition to these bad-faith shams,” the spokesperson said, referring to challenges to Trump’s candidacy.
The ruling on Jan 17 increases the stakes of what was already expected to be a politically explosive ruling from the US Supreme Court on Trump’s eligibility to return to the White House. Oral arguments are scheduled for Feb 8.
Judge Murphy wrote in her ruling that the Supreme Court will hopefully “clarify” the role of state officials and courts in addressing ballot challenges under the US Constitution.
Depending on the sweep of its ruling in the Colorado case, the US Supreme Court could resolve the issue nationwide in the coming weeks.
Maine’s primary is scheduled for March 5.
Maine and Colorado are so far the only two states to disqualify Trump under the constitutional provision, known as Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Both states have put their decisions on hold while Trump appeals against the disqualifications.
Courts and election officials in several other states have rejected similar ballot challenges to Trump’s candidacy.
Ms Bellows granted a petition from a group of former Maine lawmakers who sought to disqualify Trump. She concluded Trump incited an insurrection in an attempt to hold onto power following his defeat in the 2020 election, culminating in the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Trump appealed against the ruling, saying Ms Bellows was biased against him and that he did not have the ability to properly defend himself. He denied engaging in insurrection.
Trump has decried the ballot challenges as an undemocratic attempt at election interference by his political adversaries. Proponents of disqualification have argued that holding Trump accountable under the Constitution supports democratic values.
