The Election Commission expelled him in 2021 for storming the Capitol. Maine is the second US state to take the measure after Colorado.
On Thursday (local time), the highest election commission in the US state of Maine barred Donald Trump from participating in the primaries for the US presidential election next year. It would be the second state, after Colorado, to expel the former president over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump's campaign has announced that it will soon appeal the decision.
Maine Secretary of Elections Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, concluded that Trump had sparked a riot when he spread false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election. Bellows put his decision on hold until the state Supreme Court rules on the matter.
No office in case of “rebellion or insurrection”.
The decision comes after a group of former Maine lawmakers called for Trump to be impeached. The U.S. Constitution bars anyone from holding office if they have taken part in “insurrection or sedition” after first taking the oath of office to the United States.
The ruling, which can be appealed in state court, applies only to the March primary election. But it could hurt Trump's standing in the November general election. Trump has a clear lead in the race for the Republican nomination.
Appeal in Colorado
On December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court barred Trump from the primaries, becoming the first candidate in U.S. history to be deemed ineligible for the presidency due to insurgency. Trump has said he will appeal the Colorado Supreme Court's decision. The Colorado Republican Party filed its own appeal with the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Similar attempts to disqualify Trump in other states have been rejected. The Supreme Court in Michigan, a key state in the general election, declined to hear a challenge to Trump's qualifications on Wednesday. (APA/Reuters)
