Maine's top election official rules Trump ineligible for 2024 primary ballot
Maine ruled that Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot, fueling a national effort to disqualify him from the 2024 election due to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
CAMDEN, Maine — Maine’s top election official ruled Thursday that Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot next year, fueling a national effort to disqualify the former president over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
The decision by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, follows a bombshell Colorado Supreme Court ruling last week that concluded the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits Trump from serving in office again because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
However, Bellows' office said her decision would not be enforced until the courts weigh in, "given the compressed timeframe, the novel constitutional questions involved, the importance of this case, and impending ballot preparation deadlines."
In a 34-page decision, Bellows wrote that Trump's actions around Jan. 6 compelled her to rule him ineligible.
"The weight of the evidence makes clear that Mr. Trump was aware of the tinder laid by his multi-month effort to delegitimize a democratic election, and then chose to light a match," she wrote, adding that he "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."
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