The Maine Legislature on Tuesday rejected a motion to fire the state election official who removed former President Donald Trump from the ballot in December, the Associated Press reported.
Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows removed Trump from the state's 2024 primary ballot, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The Democratic-controlled state Legislature rejected a Republican-led impeachment resolution against Bellows by a vote of 80-60. according to To AP. (Related: Court of Appeals rejects President Trump's request for presidential immunity)
According to the Associated Press, Bellows watched the impeachment proceedings in real time from the Maine Statehouse auditorium. She said she would abide by the legal ruling on the decision, which was appealed in early January.
The impeachment order against SOS Bellows is on the House calendar today. I expect there will be a lively debate about why Biden electors did not have to recuse themselves from the entire process of trying to exclude President Trump from voting. pic.twitter.com/TyQoDx6KvI
— Congressional Correspondent Mike Soboleski (@mike_soboleski) January 9, 2024
Legal experts have expressed concern that Bellows' decision lacks merit. Republicans claim this single decision disenfranchises 300,000 Maine voters who supported the former president in the 2020 presidential election from voting for Trump, according to the Associated Press.
Colorado is the only state to exclude Trump from the ballot. The state Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision in December that the former president violated the 14th Amendment's ban on “insurrectionists.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Trump's appeal of Colorado's decision in February.
The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
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