Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has withdrawn her decision disqualifying former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot in light of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in the ballot eligibility case out of Colorado released Monday morning.
Maine is scheduled to hold its presidential primary on Super Tuesday, which falls on March 5, 2024.
The United States Supreme Court unanimously decided in the case of Trump v. Anderson that former President Trump must be allowed to appear on the Colorado ballot, as states do not have the authority to disqualify candidates for federal office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
While there was some degree of disagreement among the Justices as to the reasoning provided in the majority opinion for reaching this decision, all nine Justices strongly agreed with the Court’s conclusion.
“I agree that States lack the power to enforce Section 3 against Presidential candidates,” wrote Justice Amy Coney Barrett in her concurring opinion. “That principle is sufficient to resolve this case, and I would decide no more than that.”
“For present purposes, our differences are far less important than our unanimity: All nine Justices agree on the outcome of this case,” Barrett concluded. “That is the message Americans should take home.”
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows hides from a reporter with the Maine Wire after the SCOTUS overturns her attempt to keep Donald Trump off the ballot.
“I have reviewed the Anderson decision carefully,” Secretary Bellows wrote in her modified ruling on Monday. “The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that individual states lack authority to enforce Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment with respect to federal offices.”
“Consistent with my oath and obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and pursuant to the Anderson decision, I hereby withdraw my determination that Mr. Trump’s primary petition is invalid,” said Bellows.
“I instead conclude that the Anderson decision prohibits me from finding Mr. Trump’s statement that he is qualified for the presidency to be false by operation of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment,” she wrote. “Mr. Trump’s primary petition is therefore valid.”
“Votes cast for Mr. Trump in the March 5, 2024 presidential primary election will be counted,” Bellows concluded.
Click Here to Read Secretary Bellows’ Full Modified Ruling
Earlier this year, Bellows was instructed by the Maine Superior Court to reconsider her decision blocking the former president from appearing on the ballot after the United States Supreme Court ruled on Anderson.
Although Bellows appealed this order to the Maine Supreme Court — citing concerns over the fact that an opinion in Anderson would likely be released just shortly before election day — her request was dismissed as interlocutory.
The Superior Court gave Bellows thirty days from the time the United States Supreme Court issued their ruling in Anderson to reconsider her decision, but the Secretary released her updated determination within hours of the Justices’ opinion being released.
