FILE (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
APTOPIX Trump Fraud Lawsuit
DENVER (AP) — The decision by Maine’s secretary of state to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot will inevitably increase pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the issue of Trump’s eligibility once and for all. Shenna Bellows’ decision Thursday cited the same Civil War-era constitutional provision that Colorado’s Supreme Court used to toss Trump from the ballot in that state earlier this month. The nation’s highest court has never before ruled on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. That prohibits anyone who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.
The Supreme Court has never ruled on Section 3. It’s likely to do so in considering appeals of the Colorado decision — the state Republican Party has already appealed, and Trump is expected to file his own shortly. Bellows’ ruling cannot be appealed straight to the U.S. Supreme Court, it has to be appealed up the judicial chain first, starting with a trial court in Maine.
