Pass the popcorn:
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, in Augusta last January, acknowledged in her ruling Thursday that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows issued a ruling Thursday night barring former President Donald Trump from appearing on Maine’s March 5, 2024, presidential primary ballot.
Bellows, a Democrat, became the first state election official to conclude that Trump’s primary petition is invalid, ruling that he is not qualified to hold the office of the president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Trump’s campaign say it will challenge her ruling in state court.
Her decision makes Maine just the second state in the country to bar Trump from the ballot. Earlier this month, the Colorado Supreme Court booted Trump from the ballot under the same Civil War-era provision of the Constitution.
“I conclude … that the record establishes that Mr. Trump, over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power,” Bellows said in the statement she issued Thursday night. “I likewise conclude that Mr. Trump was aware of the likelihood for violence and at least initially supported its use given he both encouraged it with incendiary rhetoric and took no timely action to stop it.
Much like the case in Colorado, I don't expect this to stand.
The Supreme Court, which has bent over backwards to defend Republican electoral manipulation (Bush v. Gore) will leave skid marks in their haste to overturn their prior precedents.
Still, until this happens, I will enjoy seeing the 'Phants trolled.
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