Trump appeals Maine ruling barring him from ballot under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause

YEREVAN, JANUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday appealed a ruling by Maine’s secretary of state barring him from the state’s primary ballot over his role in theJan. 6, 2021, attackon the U.S. Capitol, the Associated Press reports.

Trump, the early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, appealedthe Maine decisionby Democrat Shenna Bellows, who became the first secretary of state in history to bar someone from running for the presidency under the rarely used Section 3 ofthe 14th Amendment. That provision prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.

The former president is expected to soon appeal a similar ban by the Colorado Supreme Court. That appeal would go to the U.S. Supreme Court, while Bellows’ action is being appealed to a Maine Superior Court.

Trump’s appeal on Tuesday asks that Bellows be required to place him on the March 5 primary ballot. The appeal argues that she abused her discretion and relied on “untrustworthy evidence.”