Former US President Donald Trump has been disqualified from running in Maine’s state ballot for the 2024 US presidential primary election.
This came after Colorado banned him from running in the state. The decision was made by Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, who ruled that Trump had incited the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, by spreading false information about voter fraud.
In a 34-page decision, Bellows stated that she did not reach this conclusion lightly and that no secretary of state had ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. She also noted that no presidential candidate had ever before engaged in insurrection.
The ruling applies to the March primary election and could be blocked by a state court. However, it adds pressure to the Supreme Court about Trump’s eligibility nationwide to run as president. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then ‘engaged in insurrection’ against it from holding office.
Maine, a Democrat-leaning state, is projected to be won by President Biden in the 2024 presidential election. However, Trump captured one electoral vote from Maine in the 2016 and 2020 elections due to a set-up allowing the state to split its four Electoral College votes.
Similar attempts to disqualify Trump in other states, such as Michigan, a critical battleground state, have proved unsuccessful. The rulings could prove challenging for Trump in the US presidential election 2024.
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