Washington:
Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday appealed a ruling by Maine's top election official that would bar him from the presidential primaries in the northeastern state.
Maine joined Colorado last week in preventing Trump from appearing on the primary ballot due to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Trump's lawyers urged the Maine Superior Court to reject the ruling by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, calling her a “biased decision maker” who “acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.”
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled last month that Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is ineligible to appear in the western state's presidential primaries due to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Section Three of the 14th Amendment prohibits anyone from holding public office if he or she engages in “insurrection or rebellion” after ever pledging to support and defend the Constitution.
The amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, was intended to prevent supporters of the slaveholding Confederacy from being elected to Congress or holding federal positions.
The Colorado Republican Party has appealed the Colorado Supreme Court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Maine case is expected to eventually reach the nation's highest court.
In her decision, Bellows said the Jan. 6 attack “took place at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President.”
“The United States Constitution will not tolerate an attack on the foundations of our government and (Maine law) requires me to take action in response,” she said.
Similar Fourteenth Amendment challenges to Trump's eligibility have also been filed in other states. Courts in Minnesota and Michigan recently ruled that Trump must remain on the ballot in those states.
The twice-impeached former president will go on trial in Washington in March for conspiring to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
He also faces racketeering charges in Georgia for allegedly plotting to disrupt election results in the southern state.
Maine and Colorado will hold their presidential primaries on March 5 – known as “Super Tuesday” – when voters in more than a dozen states, including California and Texas, go to the polls.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)