Donald Trump is excluded from the Maine primary

Washington/Augusta. Maine has now become the second US state to exclude former US President Donald Trump from the White House primary. The responsible ministry in Augusta announced this on Twitter earlier Thursday evening via texting service X.

Secretary of State Shanna Bellows, whose role includes elections, concluded in a statement that the former president's primary election application was “invalid.” According to the constitutional amendment, Trump is “unfit to be president”. Accordingly, those who incite “rebellion” against the constitution are excluded from the election.

Trump's campaign team immediately announced its intention to take action against the decision and strongly criticized it. “We are witnessing, in real time, attempted election fraud and disenfranchisement of the American electorate,” said spokesman Steven Cheung.

Bellows wants Trump out of Maine's primary race

Bellows is the first election official to unilaterally disqualify a presidential candidate from a primary election under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Trump's campaign team announced that it would take action against the decision.

Bellows wrote in a 34-page report that he did not come to his conclusion lightly. “I understand that no Secretary of State prohibits a presidential candidate from participating in an election under Section Three of the 14th Amendment. But I also know that no presidential candidate has ever participated in a rebellion.

Storming the Capitol

Trump supporters storm the Capitol building in Washington on January 6, 2021. Congress met there to formally confirm the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election. Trump fired up his supporters during an earlier speech. As a result of the riots, five people died.

Based on these events, various plaintiffs in various US states are attempting to remove Trump's name from the ballot for the 2024 presidential election. The 77-year-old wants to go back to the White House for Republicans.

Colorado also removes Trump from the ballot

Expecting Trump's team to appeal, Bellows put his decision on hold — as he did in Colorado. In that state, the Supreme Court also ruled last week that Trump was unfit to run for president because of his role in the capitol storm, and therefore could not run in the primary. However, the American Center for Law and Justice appealed the decision on behalf of the Colorado Republican Party. It is expected that the US Supreme Court will eventually clarify the question of Trump's participation in the election.

The Colorado Supreme Court has stayed its decision pending resolution of the issue. Trump's name is likely to appear on the ballot for his party's primary in the state early next year.

On Thursday, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber released the list of presidential candidates for the March primary in the large and important state — where Trump was one of the Republican candidates.

RND/AP/dpa