Washington — Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows requested the state's highest court to review her determination of excluding former President Donald Trump from the 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot. This request for intervention comes after a Maine superior court judge temporarily halted Bellows' ruling while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a similar dispute regarding Trump's eligibility.
"I understand that the constitutional and state authority questions are extremely important to many," stated Bellows, a Democrat, on Friday. "By appealing, we ensure that Maine's highest court can provide their input before the ballots are counted, fostering trust in our free, safe, and secure elections."
Maine, along with 15 other states, will hold their GOP presidential primaries on March 5, which is commonly known as Super Tuesday.
Bellows concluded last month that Trump is ineligible for the presidency based on a constitutional provision from the Civil War era, and therefore should be excluded from Maine's primary ballot. Trump challenged the decision in the Maine Superior Court, and on Wednesday, a judge temporarily suspended Bellows' ruling while the U.S. Supreme Court deliberates on a similar challenge to the former president's candidacy from Colorado.
In her ruling, Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy also sent the matter back to Bellows for additional proceedings as needed in light of the Supreme Court's forthcoming decision. Once the nation's highest court weighs in, Bellows has 30 days to issue a new decision "modifying, withdrawing or confirming" her December determination about Trump's eligibility, Murphy said.
Bellows said in her statement she welcomes a ruling from the nation's highest court "that provides guidance as to the important Fourteenth Amendment questions" raised in the Colorado case, but noted that Maine law allows her to seek review from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
The request from Maine's top election official means that a second state high court could address whether Trump is constitutionally eligible for a second term in the White House under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment before the Supreme Court hears arguments Feb. 8.
Trump's lawyers on Thursday urged the justices in his opening brief to "put a swift and decisive end" to efforts to exclude him from the 2024 ballot, which have been pursued in more than 30 states. Trump's brief warned that the challenges to his candidacy threaten to disenfranchise millions of his supporters and "promise to unleash chaos and bedlam if other state courts and state officials follow Colorado's lead and exclude the likely Republican presidential nominee from their ballots."
