Former U.S. President Donald Trump is fighting back in court against Maine’s secretary of state ruling that he not appear on the primary ballot.
On Tuesday, the Republican presidential candidate appealed the decision by Democrat Shenna Bellows, who used Section 3 of the 14th Amendment that bars anyone “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office.
The appeal to Kennebec County Superior Court argued that Maine’s secretary of state relied on “untrustworthy evidence.”
“The secretary should have recused herself due to her bias against President Trump, as demonstrated by a documented history of prior statements prejudging the issue presented,” attorneys for the former president wrote, according to the Associated Press.
Donald Trump filed an appeal Tuesday requesting Maine’s Superior Court overturn a decision that bars him from appearing on the state’s primary ballot in March. The court has until Jan. 17 to determine whether to overturn the decision by Maine’s Democratic secretary of state. pic.twitter.com/oU1n8N7ltF
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 3, 2024
Bellows responded by saying the appeal is “part of the process.”
“This is part of the process. I have confidence in my decision and confidence in the rule of law. 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,” she told AP.
“In Maine, the judge is required to decide the case within 20 days of Bellows’s decision, which was issued Dec. 28. Bellows’s ruling is on hold until then, meaning Trump’s name will remain on Maine’s ballot in the meantime. Maine’s primary will occur on Super Tuesday, March 5,” The Hill reported.
Trump appeals Maine Secretary of State’s decision to remove him from the state’s primary ballot.
Among other grounds, he argues that the SOS should have recused herself for “bias,” that he was denied due process, & that Section 3 is not self-executing.https://t.co/AB0kZuVjtc
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) January 2, 2024
“Maine’s Secretary of State went outside of her authority, completely ignoring the Constitution when she summarily decided to remove President Trump’s name from the ballot, interfere in the election, and disenfranchise the voters of her state,” Steven Cheung, Trump campaign spokesman, said in a statement.
In her decision, Bellows stated, “I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”
But Trump’s filing called out Bellows for having “erred” in her decision.
“Even if Maine law authorized the Secretary to consider challenges to President Trump’s candidacy under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment (which it did not), The Secretary could not properly have considered Section Three and erred as a matter of law in doing so,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the filing.
Trump faced efforts to ban him from primary ballots in several states and is expected to appeal a similar ban by the Colorado Supreme Court. The process could land the issue in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Make no mistake, the Secretary is a partisan Democrat and former ACLU executive who has decided to abuse the authority of her office to help her preferred candidate, Crooked Joe Biden, steal the 2024 election,” Cheung said of Bellows in his statement. “President Trump will fight these bad-faith attempts to destroy American democracy and he looks forward to victory both in the state courts and in the presidential election this November. It’s time to Make America Great Again!”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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