(The Center Square) — The state of Maine removed Donald Trump from its 2024 presidential primary ballot because its secretary of state said he engaged in insurrection during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The decision was announced Thursday by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat.
“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows said in a media release. “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.”
The decision in Maine came after the state of Colorado put Trump back on its ballot after that state’s Supreme Court ruled he could be removed from their 2024 primary ballot.
There has been a movement across the country to remove Trump from the presidential primary ballot due to his actions during Jan. 6, 2021. In Michigan, that state’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Trump could be on the ballot. Oregon, California and New Hampshire are other states reviewing Trump’s status as a presidential candidate.
“Another day, another illegal and corrupt act by the desperate radical Democrats weaponizing government against President Trump, Joe Biden’s top political opponent,” Elise Stefanik, a Republican U.S. House representative from New York, said in a media release. “The Far Left Democrat Maine Secretary of State just unilaterally removed President Trump from the ballot. This is election interference, voter suppression, and a blatant attack on democracy. The Supreme Court must overturn this unprecedented and unconstitutional action now.”
