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U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) condemned the decision of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot in his home state.
A little over an hour after the decision was announced, Golden released a statement in which he noted that he voted to impeach the former president for his role in the “January 6th insurrection.”
“I do not believe he should be re-elected as President of the United States,” Golden wrote. “However, we are a nation of laws, therefore until he is found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot.”
My statement on the Maine Secretary of State’s ruling: pic.twitter.com/ByO3XJe1JS
— Congressman Jared Golden (@RepGolden) December 29, 2023
Bellows’ decision follows that of the Colorado Supreme Court, which ruled that Trump was disqualified from the state’s election ballot in a 4-3 ruling. The decision has been put on hold pending a likely ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Legal actions aimed at disqualifying Trump from the ballot are underway in more than a dozen states. The challenges argue that Trump is disqualified under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. constitution, which bars those who have engaged in “insurrection” against the U.S. government from holding office.
Not one of the 90+ criminal charges levied against the former president across four separate indictments accuse him of engaging in an “insurrection.”
Despite this, Bellows made the unilateral decision to bar Trump from the ballot due to his objections to the 2020 election results and the subsequent January 6 Capitol protests. ““We lay out why under Maine law the Secretary of State has the authority, indeed the obligation, I’m duty bound to make this determination. We also, I rather laid out that the record demonstrates that in fact, the events of January 6th, 2021, which were unprecedented and tragic, were an insurrection in the meaning of section three of the 14th amendment,” Bellows told MSNBC after making the unprecedented decision.
“And finally, in reviewing the facts presented, the evidence, the law, the history,” she added. “We determined under section three of the 14th amendment that Mr. Trump engaged in insurrection and therefore was disqualified.”
