Maine is the second U.S. state to block the former president’s run for the Republican nomination for the White House because of his involvement in the January 2021 assault on the Capitol. California decides instead to validate the tycoon’s candidacy.
Table of Contents
Maine excludes Trump from primary elections
Maine’s secretary of state, the US state’s top electoral official, has removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot.
The decision is based on the “prohibition of insurrection” contained in the 14th amendment. CNN reports this. With the decision to stop Donald Trump’s primaries, Maine becomes the second American state to block the former US president’s run for the Republican presidential elections due to his involvement in the assault on the Capitol in January 2021.
Before Maine, a similar decision was made by Colorado. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a ruling that the events of January 6, 2021 “occurred with the will, knowledge, and support of the outgoing President.”
Adding, “The Constitution of the United States does not tolerate an assault on foundations of our government.”
Trump confirmed on the electoral list in California
California instead decided to consider Trump’s candidacy valid. In the most populous US state, the electoral commission has limited power to remove candidates from the ballots, explains the New York Times in reporting the news.
The conflicting decisions, the newspaper notes, highlight the tensions regarding democracy and the right to vote in the USA and appeals are multiplying for the Supreme Court to intervene to establish whether or not the former president is eligible as a Republican candidate for the White House in the elections next November.
