Maine's top court declines to hear appeal of Trump ballot decision, pending US Supreme Court ruling
Maine’s top court is declining to hear an appeal over former President Donald Trump's ballot status, keeping intact a judge's decision that the U.S. Supreme Court must first rule on a similar case in Colorado
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — 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.
Democrat Shenna Bellows 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 decided to maintain the status quo, rejecting Bellows' interlocutory appeal of the judge's decision 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.
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.
