Donald Trump blocked from Maine presidential ballot in 2024

Maine's top election official has ruled that Donald Trump cannot run for president next year in the state, citing a constitutional insurrection clause.

 

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Mr Trump was not eligible because of his actions leading up to the US Capitol riot in 2021.

 

Maine now joins Colorado as the two states to ban Mr Trump from the ballot.

 

The decisions increase pressure on the Supreme Court to weigh in.

 

Colorado votes reliably Democratic, however, Maine is more politically competitive and would be more significant for Mr Trump - the Republican frontrunner - to lose.

 

Hours after Maine's decision, California announced that Mr Trump would remain on the ballot.

 

Mrs Bellows' 34-page ruling says Mr Trump must be removed from Maine's primary ballot because of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution - which bans anyone from holding office that has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion".

 

In her order, Mrs Bellows, a Democrat, says that Mr Trump "over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol".

 

She added that his "occasional requests that rioters be peaceful and support law enforcement do not immunize his actions".

 

Speaking with BBC News, Mrs Bellows said it was her duty to uphold election laws in her state, and that she hoped the "Supreme Court will settle this matter nationwide".

 

"I'm mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on section three of the 14th Amendment. But I'm also mindful that no presidential candidate has, ever before, engaged in insurrection."

 

She denied her decision was political, saying it was "thorough and based on the rule of law".

 

Mr Trump faces upcoming trials for his alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has not been charged with inciting insurrection in either case.