Maine’s top election official has disqualified Donald Trump from the state ballot in next year’s US presidential primary election – becoming the second state to bar the former president for his role in the January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows concluded that Mr Trump incited an insurrection when he spread false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and then urged his supporters to march on the Capitol.
The ruling, which can be appealed to a state court, applies only to the March primary election, but it could affect Mr Trump’s status for the November general election.
It likely will add to pressure on the US Supreme Court to resolve questions about Mr Trump’s eligibility nationwide under the constitutional provision known as Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Mr Trump has been indicted in both a federal case and in Georgia for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election but he has not been charged with insurrection related to the January 6 attack.
Colorado’s top court disqualified Mr Trump from the state primary ballot on 19 December, making him the first candidate in US history to be deemed ineligible for the presidency for engaging in insurrection.
Mr Trump has vowed to appeal the Colorado ruling to the Supreme Court and criticised ballot challenges as “undemocratic”.
The Colorado Republican Party filed its own Supreme Court appeal on Wednesday.
Similar attempts to disqualify Mr Trump in other states have been rejected.
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