Trump disqualified from Maine 2024 Republican primary ballot

[libertybele]

Trump disqualified from Maine 2024 Republican primary ballot

Maine's Democratic secretary of state on Thursday disqualified former President Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot.

The decision follows a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court earlier this month that booted Trump from the ballot there under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Colorado is a Democratic-leaning state that is not expected to be competitive for Republicans in November............

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-disqualified-maine-2024-republican-primary-ballot

[libertybele]

 Maine’s top election official has removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 primary ballot, in a shock decision based on the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows paused her decision pending a potential appeal in state court, which Trump’s team said they intend to file.

The decision makes Maine the second state to disqualify Trump from office, after the Colorado Supreme Court handed down its own stunning ruling that removed him from the ballot earlier this month. The development is a significant victory for Trump’s critics, who say they’re trying to enforce a constitutional provision that was designed to protect the country from anti-democratic insurrectionists.

READ: Maine’s secretary of state removes Trump from 2024 primary ballot

Bellows, a Democrat, issued the decision Thursday after presiding over an administrative hearing earlier this month about Trump’s eligibility for office. A bipartisan group of former state lawmakers filed the challenge against Trump.

“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote. “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.”

Most legal experts believe the US Supreme Court will settle the issue for the entire country.

Still, the Maine decision builds on the momentum that Trump’s critics have claimed after the Colorado ruling. Before Colorado, several other states, like Michigan and Minnesota, rejected similar efforts.

Ratified after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment says American officials who “engage in” insurrection can’t hold future office. But the provision is vague and doesn’t say how the ban should be enforced.

In a statement Thursday, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung accused Bellows of being a “virulent leftist” who has now “decided to interfere in the presidential election.” ..............

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/28/politics/trump-maine-14th-amendment-ballot/index.html

[Hoodat]

“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote. “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.”

Did she bother to read Section One?

No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Was Trump given the opportunity to defend himself?  Was he provided equal protection granted anyone else facing such a challenge?  Or did Maine's Secretary of State unilaterally decide to violate the Fourteenth Amendment herself by depriving said candidate of his right to qualify as a candidate within the rules of the State of Maine?

[Smokin Joe]

This is the Left's Hail Mary play.

Find some way to keep Trump from even being on the ballot.

All else has failed.

Expect the usual suspects to show up in black bloc next and a long hot summer.

[Elderberry]

Maine Goes Crazy

Powerline 12/28/2023

Maine became the second state to bar President Trump from running for the presidency when, earlier today, its Secretary of State, a left-wing activist, declared that Trump was an “insurrectionist” under the 14th Amendment.

On the merits, this is an absurd claim. What happened on January 6 was a protest that got out of hand. The principal violence, and the only fatality, was inflicted by a capitol police officer. Not a single person arrested that day possessed a firearm. Ergo, to say that it was an insurrection–an attempt to overthrow the government!–is ridiculous.

Still, it is an argument that partisan Democrats, like Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, love to make.

    “Trump’s occasional requests that rioters be peaceful and support law enforcement do not immunize his actions,” she wrote. “Trump was aware of the tinder laid by his multi-month effort to delegitimize a democratic election, and then chose to light a match.”

More: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/12/maine-goes-crazy.php

[mountaineer]

Maine's Democrat Secretary of State... who just removed Trump from the ballot... definitely isn't biased at all you guys...

Here's her happy pic with Biden and quote from her Women's History Month visit to the White House.

https://twitter.com/TimRunsHisMouth/status/1740531433737801817

[mountaineer]

Maine’s Secretary of State posted this last year. Today, she made the unilateral and undemocratic decision to remove Trump from the ballot based on a charge he hasn’t even been convicted of.

https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1740644320758424002

[mountaineer]

Maine state Rep. John Andrews signals move to impeach Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows for stripping Trump from Maine’s ballot.

https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1740733968876728649

[mystery-ak]

CNN’s Honig: Maine Disqualified Trump Based on ‘YouTube Clips’ — Will ‘Never Pass the Bar in Normal Court’

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Thursday on “Anderson Cooper 360” that Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ decision to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot was based on “YouTube clips, news reports” and  “things that would never pass the bar in normal court.”

more
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/12/29/cnns-honig-maine-disqualified-trump-based-on-youtube-clips-will-never-pass-the-bar-in-normal-court/

[mystery-ak]

Maine Sec. of State Bellows: 14th Amendment Says Engage, ‘Trump Engaged in that Insurrection’

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) said Friday on “CNN This Morning” that she ruled that former President Donald Trump was “not qualified to hold the office of the President under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment” and therefore will not be on the state’s ballot because he “engaged” in insurrection.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/12/29/maine-sec-of-state-bellows-14th-amendment-says-engage-trump-engaged-in-that-insurrection/

[mountaineer]

All but one of Maine's congressional delegation condemn Trump's 2024 ballot removal
by Emily Jacobs, Congressional Reporter
December 29, 2023 05:00 PM
Washington Examiner

Maine’s leading congressional lawmakers are condemning their state’s secretary of state for removing former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot.

The Pine Tree State is represented in Congress by two senators and two House members, only one of whom is standing by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’s use of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to bar Trump from the 2024 ballot over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME), both of whom voted to impeach the former president during his second impeachment trial, condemned the move in statements released after the Thursday decision was announced.

“Although I respect the Secretary of State's careful process – which she was specifically required to undertake under Maine law – absent a final judicial determination of a violation of the 14th Amendment's disqualification clause, I believe the decision as to whether or not Mr. Trump should again be considered for the presidency should rest with the people as expressed in free and fair elections,” King said on Friday.

“This is the ultimate check within our Constitutional system,” he added.  ...

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), one of Maine’s two House lawmakers, joined Collins and King, the latter of whom is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, in opposing the decision.  ...

Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) was the only member of Maine’s delegation to come out in favor of the move to keep Trump off the ballot.

Even leftists can see that this Secretary of State (former head of ACLU) is a dope.

[Polly Ticks]

Maine state Rep. John Andrews signals move to impeach Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows for stripping Trump from Maine’s ballot.

I hope they do.  This kind of nonsense will just continue to gain steam until or unless there are consequences for those perpetrating it.

[mountaineer]

Anyone believe these Soros-funded Secretaries of State (yes, most of them are) will stop with the 2024 primary?

Lawyerforlaws
@lawyer4laws
Since some State Secretary of States are removing or wanting to remove Trump from Ballot~ Claiming to "Save Democracy"
How can we trust Same during 2024 Election Process?

If their view is really To Save Democracy~ Wouldn't Same feel obligated to do something ?
9:19 AM · Dec 30, 2023

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/JoeConchaTV/status/1740542665161380136

[catfish1957]

Anyone believe these Soros-funded Secretaries of State (yes, most of them are) will stop with the 2024 primary?

Lawyerforlaws
@lawyer4laws
Since some State Secretary of States are removing or wanting to remove Trump from Ballot~ Claiming to "Save Democracy"
How can we trust Same during 2024 Election Process?

If their view is really To Save Democracy~ Wouldn't Same feel obligated to do something ?
9:19 AM · Dec 30, 2023

Yep they almost to the hilt control the voting machines and processes in every state..  Another one of those examples where Soros, et. al. has out-thought our side, and exploits the systems to their benefit.

[mystery-ak]

Maine Democrat who barred Trump from ballot met with Biden twice, called Electoral College 'white supremacy'
Kyle Morris

The Maine official who moved to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the state's 2024 Republican primary ballot on Thursday visited the White House this year to meet with President Biden and previously referred to the Electoral College as a "relic of white supremacy."

On two separate occasions this year — once in March and another time in June — Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, was invited to the White House, according to White House visitor logs.

Bellows' first trip came after she was invited to attend a Women’s History Month event held on March 22 at the White House, where she met with Biden and snapped a photo with him.

Bellows took to social media to share the photo she took with Biden at the March event and described the "amazing" experience she had meeting the president.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/maine-democrat-barred-trump-ballot-met-biden-year-electoral-college-white-supremacy

[Hoodat]

Maine Democrat who barred Trump from ballot met with Biden twice, called Electoral College 'white supremacy'

So essentially, the US Constitution itself is 'white supremacy'.

[Fishrrman]

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Thursday on “Anderson Cooper 360” that Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ decision to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot was based on “YouTube clips, news reports” and  “things that would never pass the bar in normal court.”

There may be a reason for that, when you consider her "qualifications".

It may have been mentioned earlier in the thread already, but I read today that Ms. Bellows isn't even a lawyer by profession, yet is still Secretary of State.

So much for sound legal reasoning.

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/BreitbartNews/status/1741199541401989357

[libertybele]

https://twitter.com/JoeConchaTV/status/1740542665161380136

He's just an evil creep.

[Polly Ticks]

http://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1740831478869872975

[rangerrebew]

Maine Democrat who barred Trump from ballot met with Biden twice, called Electoral College 'white supremacy'
Story by Kyle Morris  •
19h
 
This decision from Maine is even more egregious than Colorado’s: Katie Cherkasky
The Maine official who moved to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the state's 2024 Republican primary ballot on Thursday visited the White House this year to meet with President Biden and previously referred to the Electoral College as a "relic of white supremacy."
 
On two separate occasions this year — once in March and another time in June — Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, was invited to the White House, according to White House visitor logs.

Bellows' first trip came after she was invited to attend a Women’s History Month event held on March 22 at the White House, where she met with Biden and snapped a photo with him.

Bellows took to social media to share the photo she took with Biden at the March event and described the "amazing" experience she had meeting the president.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/maine-democrat-who-barred-trump-from-ballot-met-with-biden-twice-called-electoral-college-white-supremacy/ar-AA1mf85K?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=2a49676d853c4a9cb03114bdefe7ab27&ei=49

[Mod2]

Merged threads

[mountaineer]

Sheena Bellows admits it is a group of ACLU and SPLC alumni (Soros-funded, no doubt) working together to remove Trump from the ballots in key states

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1740794354820960566

[mystery-ak]

Maine’s Democrat Secretary of State Threatened with Impeachment for Keeping Trump Off Ballot

Amy Furr 30 Dec 2023

Maine’s head election official is in hot water after deciding to bar former President Donald Trump from the Republican primary ballot.

The Associated Press (AP) reported Friday that at least one Republican lawmaker has promised to move toward impeachment against Democrat Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

According to Breitbart News, she apparently does not possess a law degree and has also substituted YouTube videos for due process.

The recent AP article continued:

    Bellows said Friday that she had no comment on the impeachment effort, but said she was duty-bound by state law to make a determination on three challenges brought by registered Maine voters. She reiterated that she suspended her decision pending an anticipated appeal by Trump in Superior Court.

    “Under Maine law, I have not only the authority but the obligation to act,” she said. “I will follow the Constitution and the rule of law as directed by the courts,” she added.

On Thursday, Bellows determined that Trump was ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot, Breitbart News reported.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/12/30/maines-democrat-secretary-state-threatened-impeachment-keeping-trump-off-ballot/