(RepublicanView.org) – The Maine Superior Court has sent a dispute over Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the state’s GOP primary ballots back to the secretary of state. Justice Michaela Murphy placed a hold on Secretary of State Shella Bellows’s decision to exclude Trump until the US Supreme Court rules on the matter in Colorado. Murphy said that unless the Supreme Court upholds Colorado’s decision, Trump will be on the ballot in Maine.
“The United States Supreme Court’s acceptance of the Colorado case changes everything about the order in which these issues should be decided and by which court,” she wrote.
Trump asked the Superior Court to review Secretary of State Bellows’ decision that he is not permitted on Maine ballots because he is excluded from the Oval Office for breaching the 14th Amendment to the Constitution – which prohibits those who engage in insurrection from holding high government office.
In December, Bellows, a Democrat, explained the reason for her decision and said, “Mr. Trump was aware of the tinder that was laid in a multi-month effort” to push back on the past election, and “he then chose to light a match.”
Maine was the second state to ban the former President, following an earlier ruling from Colorado’s Supreme Court, which also barred him on 14th Amendment grounds. Trump referred the matter to the US Supreme Court, and his exclusion is on hold while a ruling is awaited.
The former President asked the Court in a filing to take “swift and decisive” action to overturn Colorado’s ruling or unleash “chaos and bedlam.” His lawyers say the 14th Amendment does not apply to the American President, and even if it did, he has never engaged in insurrection.
Republican primaries are due to take place in Maine and Colorado on Super Tuesday, which is scheduled for March 5. This means the Supreme Court is under pressure to act quickly – particularly as some ballots will be issued weeks before Super Tuesday.
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