Trump Takes Action Against Maine Court Ruling: What’s Happening Now and Why It’s Urgent

Former US President Donald Trump is legally defending himself against attempts to exclude him from the primaries for the Republican presidential candidacy in individual states. Trump’s lawyers filed an appeal on Tuesday (local time) with a court in the state of Maine against the decision of the country’s top election regulator, which said the Republican was eligible to run for president because of his behavior in connection with the storming. from the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The president was disqualified and therefore could not be admitted to the primaries.

Trump is also expected to appeal a similar Supreme Court decision in Colorado. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely have to clarify this delicate issue.

What matters

The background is the unprecedented attack on the US House of Representatives, almost exactly three years ago: Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. Congress met there to formally confirm Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Trump had previously incited his supporters during a speech by claiming that the election victory had been stolen from him through massive fraud. Five people were killed as a result of the riots. Trump is accused of attempted election fraud for his actions surrounding the elections.

Based on these events, several plaintiffs in various US states have been trying for some time to have Trump’s name removed from the ballots for the presidential primaries. Anyone who wants to run for office as a Republican or Democratic candidate in the US must first win in the party’s internal primaries. In states like Michigan and Minnesota, prosecutors failed in their efforts to remove Trump from the primary race. Decisions are still pending in other states. However, decisions were made against Trump in Maine and Colorado.

In Colorado, the state’s highest court ruled a few days ago that the Republican was unfit for the office of president due to his role in the storming of the Capitol and therefore could not participate in the primaries. Shortly afterwards, not a court in Maine but Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who is responsible for the elections, came to the same conclusion.

Trump’s lawyers have now formally appealed their decision. They argued, among other things, that Bellows was biased and had no legal authority to make such a decision. The decision is based on error and is arbitrary.

What happens now

Bellows had put her decision on hold pending Trump’s objection. The same goes for Colorado. The two decisions will initially have no consequences as long as the appeal procedure is ongoing and there is no definitive clarity yet.

In Colorado, the U.S. Center for Law and Justice had already appealed the court’s ruling on behalf of the state’s Republican Party. Further objections in Colorado are expected from Trump himself. This means that the Supreme Court will ultimately have a say in the case.

Why is it urgent?

Time is running out. The Republican primaries begin on January 15 with the first voting in the state of Iowa. The Republican primaries in Colorado and Maine are scheduled for March 5, the so-called Super Tuesday, when voting will take place in a number of US states. However, the ballots are printed some time in advance.

Trump wants to run for the Republicans again in the presidential elections in November, and in the polls he is so far ahead of the field of Republican candidates. For the Democrats, Biden wants to run for a second term. He has no serious internal competition.

In addition to the legal dispute over his participation in the primaries, Trump also faces several major legal proceedings in the coming months on various criminal charges — including the storming of the Capitol and his efforts to retroactively overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election to make. (sda/dpa)