The Pine Tree State has joined the ranks of those valiant defenders of democracy who support that sublime virtue by preventing voters from casting ballots for the currently leading challenger to the incumbent President.
On Dec. 28, Maine joined Colorado in kicking Donald Trump off the ballot in the primary election, on the basis that he had incited insurrection.
“I am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” writes Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows in her decision. “I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”
“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” she claims, shedding crocodile tears. “Democracy is sacred.…”
The Trump campaign can appeal Bellows’ decision to Maine’s Superior Court.
Maine is one of the U.S. states whose electoral college votes are not winner-take-all. Trump received one of Maine’s four electoral votes in 2020 by coming out ahead in one of its two congressional districts.
In California, meanwhile, the governor expressed a different understanding of the sacredness of democracy. Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Dec. 22 that “in California we defeat candidates we don’t like at the polls.”
