Maine GOP rep moves to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after striking Trump from ballot

Following Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ ruling on Thursday that Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot, Maine State Rep. John Andrews has filed a request with the Maine Revisor’s Office for a joint order to impeach Bellows.

In the letter Andrew cited the House’s sole power to impeach in the state. "I wish to file a Joint Order, or whichever is the proper parliamentary mechanism under Mason's Rules, to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. I wish to impeach Secretary Bellows on the grounds that she is barring an American citizen and 45th President of the United States, who is convicted of no crime or impeachment, their right to appear on a Maine Republican Primary ballot," Andrews wrote in the letter, part of which was posted to Facebook.

"Donald J. Trump has met all qualifications for the March 2024 Republican Presidential Primary. He should be allowed on the ballot. This is raw partisanship and has no place in the offices of our state's Constitutional Officers."

Andres said in a statement that the removal of Trump "is hyper-partisanship on full display. A Secretary of State APPOINTED by legislative Democrats bans President Trump from the 2024 ballot so that she can jockey for position in the 2026 Democrat Primary for Governor. Banana Republic isn't just a store at the mall."

In a 34-page ruling issued Thursday evening, Bellows said that "I conclude that Mr. Trump’s primary petition is invalid. Specifically, I find that the declaration on his candidate consent for is false because he is not qualified to hold the office of the President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment."

Bellows wrote that she disagrees "with Mr. Trump’s contention that only Congress can adjudicate the qualifications of a Presidential candidate."

She noted that "I am cognizant of the fact that my decision could soon be rendered a nullity by a decision of the United States Supreme Court in Anderson," referring to the Colorado case barring Trump from the ballot, "that possibility does not relieve me of my responsibility to act."

Bellows said that "the text, history, and context of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment make clear it covers the President, and that is a qualification enforceable by the states," adding that "I have little trouble concluding that the events of January 6, 2021 were an insurrection within the meaning of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment."

She noted that it is a harder question to answer whether Trump himself engaged in the insurrection as he has not been charged with the crime or tried for it, but concluded that "Mr. Trump intended to incite lawless action" and thus "his speech is unprotected by the First Amendment."

"I do not reach this conclusion lightly. Democracy is sacred, and the highest court of this State has repeatedly recognized that 'no right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live,'" she said after making herself prosecutor, judge and jury.

Bellows wrote that she was "mindful" that no Secretary of State has "ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access" based on the 14th Amendment, but also that "no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection."

Bellows stated that Trump was not eligible to be on the ballow, but added that "given the compressed timeframe, the novel constitutional questions involved, the importance of this case, and impending ballot preparation deadlines, I will suspend the effect of my decision until the Superior Court rules on any appeal, or the time to appeal … has expired."