Maine Secretary Says Voters May Cast Ballots for Trump Without Knowing If It ‘Will Count’

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows appealed a Maine Superior Court’s order on Jan. 23, arguing that the hold on her disqualification of former President Donald Trump as a candidate “undermines the Secretary’s ability to facilitate an equitable and orderly primary election on March 5.”

On Dec. 28, Ms. Bellows had issued a decision finding President Trump ineligible under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment after hearing three challenges from Maine voters who argued he engaged in an “insurrection” on Jan. 6, 2021. However, the Superior Court’s decision stayed, or paused, the removal of President Trump from the ballot pending an appeal in court.

On Jan. 17, the court ordered that Ms. Bellows wait for the U.S. Supreme Court’s answer to President Trump’s appeal of a similar case arising out of Colorado, and certify the state’s ballot accordingly within 30 days. Ms. Bellows had argued that a Supreme Court decision may only resolve things for Colorado, which the Maine court found unlikely.

In the appeal filed by Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office on behalf of Ms. Bellows, the secretary is arguing that she is running up against state deadlines to finalize ballots, and the court has left her without a definitive answer.

She is requesting that the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, the state’s top court, and the secretary is requesting a ruling on the merits of her disqualification decision by Jan. 31, before the U.S. Supreme Court’s answer.

“Section 337 is designed to produce an expedited resolution of challenges to primary petitions because of looming state and federal election deadlines,” the appeal reads.

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The secretary’s concern is that the Supreme Court’s decision will still leave questions unanswered for Maine voters, and new challenges to President Trump’s eligibility will arise, forcing her to repeat the process from December.

The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 8, so even if a decision comes just days after oral argument, it would be far too close to the March 5 primary, she argued.

As it stands, President Trump is set to remain on the Maine ballot. By the time the Supreme Court issues a decision, overseas and early ballots would have already gone out with his name on it. Ms. Bellows is arguing that should President Trump later be disqualified in the state, voters would have already cast a vote for him and those votes could not count.

“Such an outcome is contrary to the statutory design and would sow public confusion … leaving voters to cast ballots not knowing whether a vote for Mr. Trump will count,” the appeal reads.

“Also the Secretary will be in the untenable position of determining how to tabulate election returns where one candidate’s qualification remains in doubt.”

In a footnote, legal counsel for Ms. Bellows note that the only Supreme Court order that could also settle the issue for Maine would be “a reversal of the Colorado Supreme Court on a ground that contradicts a necessary basis for the Secretary’s Ruling.”

“If the Supreme Court of the United States affirms the Colorado Supreme Court, Maine’s courts would still need to address Mr. Trump’s state-law arguments,” the note reads. “And even if the Supreme Court reverses, it could rule on only a Colorado-specific question.”

The appeal rests on the possibility that President Trump can be removed from state ballots; if the Supreme Court were to issue such a decision, it would indeed throw Maine’s primary into disarray.

“The Superior Court has had its opportunity to issue a decision. If this Court decides to hear her appeal, the Secretary intends to urge the Court to vacate the remand and, as required by Section 337(2)(E), issue a decision on the merits of (and affirm) the Secretary’s Ruling by January 31,” the appeal reads.

Challenges Nationwide

Legal scholars, current and former officials, and voters in and outside of Colorado have also urged the Supreme Court to resolve matters for all voters in some 40 amicus briefs that have been filed since the high court accepted the petition on Jan. 5.

According to attorneys for President Trump, there have been more than 60 challenges to his eligibility filed in at least 30 states, and court records show that he has been actively litigating several of these cases the past few months.

More challenges have been filed in recent weeks, even as state and federal courts continue to dismiss cases in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling. Several reasons allow petitioners to bring these challenges even if another similar case was dismissed in the same state, including the lack of case law to show the use of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment outside of the Civil War, and state election codes.

Originally intended to bar officials who abandoned their posts to join the Civil War to return without a two-thirds vote from Congress, the little-known statute has gained nationwide attention since the Colorado Supreme Court found President Trump was disqualified as a candidate.

To date, President Trump is still set to appear on the ballot in every state. Maine and Colorado remain the only two states that have issued disqualification decisions, and both decisions were written to not go into effect in the event of an appeal.