Former President Donald Trump will remain on the ballot in Maine for now after the state’s highest court declined to take up an appeal from Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Wednesday.
After Bellows decided to remove Trump from the state’s ballot, citing the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment, a Superior Court judge put Bellows’ decision on hold, saying she would not decide on the case until the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling on Colorado’s attempt to remove the former president from its ballot.
Bellows appealed the Superior Court’s decision to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which — in a unanimous decision — declined to take up the case, keeping in place the lower court’s decision to hold out on a ruling until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in, the Associated Press reported.
“The Secretary of State suggests that there is irreparable harm because a delay in certainty about whether Trump’s name should appear on the primary ballot will result in voter confusion. This uncertainty is, however, precisely what guides our decision not to undertake immediate appellate review in this particular case,” the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said.
The U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments on the Colorado case on February 8, less than a month before Maine holds its primary on March 5. Bellows kicked Trump off the state’s ballot in late December, just a little over a week after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Trump is ineligible to appear on the ballot.
In an appeal to the Maine Superior Court following Bellow’s decision, Trump’s lawyers called the secretary of state a “biased decision maker.”
“The secretary should have recused herself due to her bias against President Trump, as demonstrated by a documented history of prior statements prejudging the issue presented,” Trump’s lawyers said.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s decision to reject Bellows’ appeal is similar to a decision made by the Oregon Supreme Court earlier this month. The challenge to Trump’s ballot eligibility was brought by five Oregon voters who want the former president disqualified from the ballot. But as with the case in Maine, Oregon Chief Justice Meagan Flynn pointed to the Colorado case, and said those challenging Trump’s appearance on the state’s ballot will have to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide on the Colorado case.
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The Supreme Court’s decision on the Colorado ballot case will also likely have implications for groups of voters in Illinois and Massachusetts who are seeking to remove Trump from the ballot.