Colorado’s Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, a Democrat, announced on Thursday, Dec. 28, that former President Donald Trump will remain on the state’s ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court has a chance to rule on the case. The good news for the Trump campaign, however, was short-lived as Maine has now barred Trump from its 2024 primary ballot.
I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.
Senna Bellows, Maine Secretary of State (D)
Similarly to Colorado’s initial Supreme Court ruling, Maine’s Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, barred Trump’s name from being on the state’s primary election ballot, ruling that the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol make him ineligible to hold public office.
“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,” Bellows wrote about her decision. “I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”
The ruling further heightens tensions around U.S. elections as calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to step in grow louder. A Trump campaign spokesman called the rulings to ban Trump from ballots in Maine and Colorado “partisan election interference efforts.”
But Trump will remain on the ballot in Colorado, for now, as the state’s GOP challenges the state Supreme Court’s ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on the decision, now it’s just a matter of when.
“The Colorado Supreme Court has removed the leading Republican candidate from the primary and general ballots, fundamentally changing the course of American democracy,” Colorado GOP said.
Meanwhile, California, the most populated state in the country, has just ruled that Trump will remain on the ballot in 2024. This falls in line with recent decisions in Michigan and Minnesota that elections officials cannot prevent Trump from its ballots.