by Hannah Bleau Knudsen, Breitbart:
Maine’s Democrat Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, on Thursday determined that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot, but the decision will not be carried out until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the controversial state rulings, which continue to pile up.
Like the left-leaning justices in Colorado, Bellows said Trump is disqualified based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, or the Insurrection Clause.
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In the ruling, Bellows wrote that she held a hearing on December 15 on three challenges to Trump’s nomination. The first two, she said, “contest Mr. Trump’s qualification for office under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
“The third challenge, filed by Paul Gordon (the ‘Gordon Challenge’), contests Mr. Trump’s qualification under the Twenty-Second Amendment,” the ruling reads.
“For the reasons set forth below, I conclude that Mr. Trump’s primary petition is invalid,” she wrote.
“Specifically, I find that the declaration on his candidate consent form is false because he is not qualified to hold the office of the President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment,” it reads:
BREAKING:
.@shennabellows the Secretary of State of MAINE @MESecOfState just said President Trump is “ineligible” to appear on the 2024 GOP primary ballot.
ELECTION INTERFERENCE! pic.twitter.com/iKXErPj9Zd
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) December 29, 2023
Despite that, Bellows’ decision will not be carried out until the Supreme Court finally makes a determination on this issue, “given the compressed timeframe, the novel constitutional questions involved, the importance of this case, and impending ballot preparation deadlines,” per the secretary of state’s office.
Her decision follows a legal filing from Trump’s team on Wednesday arguing that Bellows should recuse herself from the case, deeming her a “completely biased Democrat partisan.”
The decision also follows the Colorado Supreme Court ruling in a 4-3 opinion that the Constitution’s ‘Insurrection Clause’ prohibits former Trump from appearing on the ballot.
“We consider and reject President Trump’s argument that his speech on January 6 was protected by the First Amendment,” the ruling reads in part.
However, Trump’s team is appealing the decision, and his name will still appear on the Colorado primary ballot as that process plays out.
“With the appeal filed, Donald Trump will be included as a candidate on Colorado’s 2024 Presidential Primary Ballot when certification occurs on January 5, 2024, unless the US Supreme Court declines to take the case or otherwise affirms the Colorado Supreme Court ruling,” Colorado’s Secretary of State Jena Griswold office said in a press release.
