Trump appeals disqualification from Maine’s Republican presidential primary ballot
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Donald Trump has appealed against a decision from Maine’s top election official which disqualifies him from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot, a court filing shows.
The former US president was barred over his role in the 6 January 2021 riots at the Capitol building in Washington DC.
Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for this year’s US election, asked a state superior court to reverse the decision from Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.
The Democrat’s ruling came after a group of former Maine politicians petitioned her to keep 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 United States.
Ms Bellows later concluded Trump incited an insurrection in an attempt to hold on to power following his defeat in the 2020 election and disqualified him under the provision.
Advocacy groups and some anti-Trump voters have brought several challenges to the former president’s candidacy under the provision, known as Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
The lawsuits have argued that Trump 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 Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.
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The US Supreme Court is likely to consider the issue soon, after Colorado’s top court barred Trump from the primary ballot in that state.
A ruling from the Supreme Court could provide a nationwide resolution to questions surrounding Trump’s eligibility.
Several similar lawsuits filed against Trump in other states have been rejected by courts.
Trump’s campaign has called the ballot challenges a “hostile assault on American democracy”.
Opinion polls show Trump with a commanding lead in the Republican nominating contest.
State-by-state contests to select a nominee begin on 15 January.
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