Maine Trump 14th Amendment Ballot Disqualification Challenge

Lawsuit filed on behalf of former President Donald Trump against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) challenging Trump’s removal from Maine’s Republican presidential primary ballot. The lawsuit specifically seeks to reverse a Dec. 28, 2023 ruling from the secretary of state that deemed Trump ineligible to hold office of the president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and removed him from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot. 

Trump alleges that the secretary’s ruling is flawed because she is a “biased decision maker” and has no legal authority to remove him from the ballot. Trump asks the court to void the secretary’s ruling and to place him back on Maine’s primary ballot. He also asks the court to find that the secretary of state has no authority to consider his eligibility under the 14th Amendment. 

On Jan. 17, 2024, a state judge paused the Secretary’s ruling pending the issuance of a final decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump’s Colorado Ballot Disqualification case. On Jan. 19, 2024, the Secretary appealed the state court’s ruling to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. On Jan. 24, 2024, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court dismissed the appeal. On March 4, 2024, the secretary of state released a modified ruling withdrawing her decision to remove Trump’s name from the state’s primary ballot in accordance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Colorado Ballot Disqualification case.

Last updated: March 4, 2024 2:07 pm EST