Trump appeals against removal from Maine ballot

The former president’s legal team argue the decision is ‘infected by bias’ and shows ‘lack of due process’

Donald Trump has appealed against a ruling to remove him from Maine’s ballot in the 2024 presidential election over his role in the Jan 6 insurrection.
Mr Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, asked a state superior court on Tuesday to reverse a decision from Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state for Maine, barring him from the March 5 primary ballot.
His legal team argued the decision was “the product of a process infected by bias and pervasive lack of due process”.
Ms Bellows, a Democrat, concluded that Mr Trump incited an insurrection in an attempt to hold onto power following his defeat in the 2020 election and was disqualified from holding office again under the US Constitution.
Mr Trump’s lawyers disputed in a court filing that he took part in an uprising and argued that Ms Bellows did not have the authority to exclude him from the ballot.
It accused her of making “multiple errors of law” and acting “in an arbitrary and capricious manner”.
Ms Bellow’s ruling comes after a group of former Maine lawmakers petitioned her to keep Mr Trump off the ballot, arguing that he could not serve as president under a provision of the US Constitution that bars people from holding office if they engaged in “insurrection” after swearing an oath to the country.
Ms Bellows said in a statement after the appeal was filed: “I have confidence in my decision and in the rule of law.”
Advocacy groups and some anti-Trump voters have brought several challenges to Mr Trump’s candidacy under the provision, known as Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
The lawsuits have argued that the former president incited his supporters to violence by spreading false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and then urged them to descend upon the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
It is thought the US Supreme Court will likely consider the issue, after Colorado’s top court barred Mr Trump from the primary ballot prior to the ruling in Maine.
A ruling from the top court could provide a nationwide resolution to questions surrounding the Republican front-runner’s eligibility.
Several similar lawsuits filed against Mr Trump in other states have been rejected by courts.
The former president’s campaign has called the ballot challenges a “hostile assault on American democracy”.
Mr Trump lost Colorado in 2020, and he doesn’t need to win it again to garner an electoral college majority next year.
He earned one of Maine’s four electoral college votes in 2020 by winning the state’s 2nd Congressional District.