4-1 decision, Maine’s highest court upheld a lower court ruling affirming Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ decision to exclude former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court determined that Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and his alleged involvement in the January 6th Capitol attack amounted to engaging in an insurrection under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The 14th Amendment’s Section 3 prohibits individuals who have taken an oath to protect the Constitution but later engage in insurrection from holding public office. Bellows’ decision, made in December, cited Trump’s false claims of election fraud, his efforts to pressure state officials, and his rhetoric preceding the Capitol attack as evidence of supporting an insurrection.
Trump’s legal team promptly appealed, contending that Bellows had exceeded her authority. A lower court judge temporarily halted Bellows’ order pending review by the state’s high court.
The majority opinion of the Supreme Court highlighted Trump’s actions in pressuring the U.S. Justice Department, state officials, and Vice President Mike Pence to take unconstitutional actions as evidence of his support for the insurrection. The court stated that Trump’s actions contradicted his oath to uphold the Constitution, leading to his disqualification under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
While the court’s lone dissenter called for further fact-finding and expressed concern about potential precedents for blocking candidates by a single state official, Trump’s attorneys announced their intention to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. They maintained that Bellows and the Maine courts had interfered in the democratic process and framed the decision as a politically motivated attempt to undermine Trump’s popularity.
The Maine case is part of a broader nationwide effort to apply Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against Trump. A similar case is already before the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging Trump’s exclusion from Colorado’s primary ballot on similar grounds. Constitutional scholars remain divided on whether Trump’s efforts to contest the 2020 election qualify as engaging in insurrection, with state supreme courts reaching one conclusion while federal courts have generally exercised caution on the matter.
