Trump banned from running for president in Maine - CNN
Former U.S. President Donald Trump (photo: flickr.com)
The head of Maine's election commission has removed former President Donald Trump from the ballot for the 2024 election. The decision is based on the 14th Amendment, which prohibits the participation in elections of organizers and participants in a rebellion, reports CNN.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, announced the decision on Thursday, December 28, after presiding over an administrative hearing earlier this month on Trump's fitness for office. A bipartisan group of former state lawmakers filed an appeal against the politician.
Bellows' decision can be appealed in state court, and Trump's team is likely to appeal it.
"I do not reach this conclusion lightly. Democracy is sacred … 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," Bellows wrote.
Nevertheless, CNN suggests that the Maine court's decision builds on the momentum that Trump's critics have been claiming since a similar ruling in Colorado. Several other states, such as Michigan and Minnesota, have rejected similar attempts.
The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, states that American officials who "engage" in a rebellion may not hold their offices in the future. However, this provision is vague and does not specify how this prohibition should be implemented.
Elections in the United States
The next presidential election in the U.S. is scheduled for November 5, 2024.
According to forecasts, the main candidate for the Democrats will be the current American leader Joe Biden, and for the Republicans - former head of state Donald Trump.
On December 20, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump, in accordance with the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, cannot participate in the state's primaries. The reason is his "participation in an insurrection against the United States," which the court recognized as the storming of the Capitol by the politician's supporters on January 6, 2021.
The court's decision ordered the Colorado Secretary of State to exclude Trump from the March 5 GOP primary in the state. However, this does not prevent the politician from running in other states.
Trump's team has filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. A hearing on the appeal is scheduled for January 4, 2024. The court's decision is likely to be applied throughout the country.
Trump denies any wrongdoing related to the storming of the Capitol and considers the legal claims to be groundless.
Most lawyers believe that the U.S. Supreme Court will decide this issue for the entire country.
