Maine's supreme court declines to hear Trump ballot eligibility case

[useapen]

Maine's top court Wednesday evening declined to weigh in on whether former
President Donald Trump can stay on the state's ballot, keeping intact a
judge's decision that the U.S. Supreme Court must first rule on a similar
case in Colorado.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, concluded that Trump
didn't meet ballot qualifications under the insurrection clause in the
U.S. Constitution but a judge put that decision on hold pending the
Supreme Court's decision on the similar case in Colorado.

In a unanimous decision, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court dismissed
Bellows' appeal of the order requiring her to await the U.S. Supreme Court
decision before withdrawing, modifying or upholding her decision to keep
Trump off the primary ballot on Super Tuesday.

"The Secretary of State suggests that there is irreparable harm because a
delay in certainty about whether Trump's name should appear on the primary
ballot will result in voter confusion. This uncertainty is, however,
precisely what guides our decision not to undertake immediate appellate
review in this particular case," the court said.

Bellows' decision in December that Trump was ineligible made her the first
election official to ban the Republican front-runner from the ballot under
the 14th Amendment. In Colorado, the state supreme court reached the same
conclusion.

The timelines are tight as Maine's March 5 primary approaches. The U.S.
Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the Colorado case on Feb. 8, and
Maine has already begun mailing overseas ballots.

The nation's highest court has never ruled on Section 3 of the 14th
Amendment, which prohibits those who "engaged in insurrection" from
holding office. Some legal scholars say the post-Civil War clause applies
to Trump for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election
and encouraging his backers to storm the U.S. Capitol after he lost to
Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump contends Bellows should have recused herself, and that she was
biased against him. Trump said her actions disenfranchised voters in
Maine, and were part of a broader effort to keep him off the ballot.

Bellows, who was elected by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, said
she was bound by state law to make a determination after several residents
challenged Trump's right to be on the primary ballot. She put her decision
on Trump's ballot eligibility on hold pending judicial proceedings, and
vowed that she would abide by a court's ultimate ruling.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maine-supreme-court-declines-to-hear-trump-
ballot-eligibility-case/?intcid=CNR-01-0623