Maine removes Trump from ballot, saying he's disqualified by 'insurrectionist ban'

WASHINGTON - Maine's top election official said Thursday she wants to remove Donald Trump's name from the presidential ballot, a decision that will likely be appealed along with a similar ruling in Colorado.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, announced the decision Thursday, saying the "insurrectionist ban" in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies to Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The evidence demonstrates that the insurrection "occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President (Trump)," Bellows wrote in her decision. "The U.S. Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government."

Bellows also said she would delay actual removal of Trump's name from the Maine ballot until the courts finally rule on the question. That means Trump will probably be on the state's Republican primary ballot March 5.

Trump campaign attacks Maine decision

The Trump campaign, denying that Jan. 6 was an insurrection, condemned the Maine decision, saying in a statement that Bellows is a "leftist" who has "decided to interfere in the presidential election."

A deeper look:With three major recent losses, is the effort to knock Trump off ballots in 2024 over?

"We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter," said the statement from Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung.

Noting that courts in other states have rejected efforts to disqualify Trump, Cheung said the campaign would file a "legal objection" to the ruling in Maine's state court system.

The U.S. Supreme Court may make final decision

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to have the final say on Trump's eligibility for state ballots sometime next year.

Earlier this month, Bellows presided over an administrative hearing on a challenge to Trump brought by a bipartisan group of Maine lawmakers.

Before the decision, Trump's attorneys had asked Bellows to recuse herself from the decision because of past tweets they said showed political bias. 

Colorado and Michigan

The Maine move follows a decision earlier this month by the Colorado Supreme Court, which said Trump is ineligible for public office because the 14th Amendment disqualifies insurrectionists.

Trump has said he would appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court.

This past week, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a similar effort to keep Trump off the ballot in that state. Minnesota's high court has also refused requests to remove Trump's name from the ballot.

Bellows said she did not make the Maine decision lightly.

“I am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment," she wrote. "I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection."

Trump's opponents in the Republican primaries, including Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, have criticized the ballot removal efforts.

Trump won one electoral vote in Maine in 2020

Maine is a small and mostly Democratic state, but it could conceivably have a big impact in a close Electoral College contest.

The state of Maine splits up its four electoral votes in presidential elections, awarding two to the statewide vote winner and one to the winner in each of the two congressional districts.

In the 2020 election, Joe Biden won three electoral votes in Maine.

Trump won one.