UPDATE
Jan 17, 2024 3:52 PM CST
Maine primary voters may be able to cast their vote for former President Donald Trump after all. The Maine Superior Court on Wednesday said the December decision from Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to remove Trump's name from the ballot should be put on hold pending a Supreme Court decision in a similar Colorado case. CBS News reports Justice Michaela Murphy wrote that "unless the Supreme Court before [the March 5 primary] finds President Trump disqualified to hold the office of president, eligible Maine voters who wish to cast their vote for him in the primary will be able to do so. ... Put simply, the United States Supreme Court's acceptance of the Colorado case changes everything about the order in which these issues should be decided, and by which court." Murphy sent the case back to Bellows with instructions to wait for SCOTUS' decision before withdrawing, modifying, or upholding her own, reports the AP.
Jan 2, 2024 5:00 PM CST
Donald Trump filed an appeal Tuesday against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows' decision to kick him off the GOP primary ballot in the state, saying he had been "wrongfully denied" his place on the ballot. The former president filed the appeal with Kennebec Superior Court five days after Bellows' ruling, which she has put on hold pending the outcome of Trump's appeal, the Washington Post reports. Trump is also expected to appeal a similar decision in Colorado removing him from the GOP ballot based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bans insurrectionists from holding office.
Trump "has met all requirements set forth by the Maine Legislature in the statute and is entitled to be placed on the Republican primary ballot," the appeal states, per CNN. "Nonetheless, in the Secretary's Ruling, the Secretary wrongfully denied President Trump a place on the Republican primary ballot." The appeal argues that Trump did not "engage" in insurrection. It states that Bellows "made multiple errors of law and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner."
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The appeal states that Bellows "should have recused herself due to her bias against President Trump, as demonstrated by a documented history of prior statements prejudging the issue presented." Bellows tells the AP that the appeal "is part of the process." "I have confidence in my decision and confidence in the rule of law," she says. "This is Maine's process and it's really important that first and foremost every single one of us who serves in government uphold the Constitution and the laws of the state." (Bellows was "swatted" after her home address was posted on social media.)
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