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Maine's secretary of state tells NPR why she disqualified Trump from the ballot (www.npr.org)

submitted 11 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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...

Scott Detrow: So how did you define "engaging in insurrection" here?

Shenna Bellows: Well, let's back up first and make sure that everyone understands that Maine law is, to my knowledge, different from every other state.

Under Maine law, when I qualified Mr. Trump for the ballot, any registered voter had the right to challenge that qualification. Five voters did so, including two former Republican state senators. And then I was required under the statute, under the law, to hold a hearing and issue a decision, and do so within a very compressed timeline. So this wasn't something I initiated, but it's something that's required under Maine election law.

Detrow: So the question came to you, but it puts you in the position of weighing a really serious question with big consequences that's in front of a lot of state courts right now. And that is this question of whether the attempt to overturn the election and what happened on January 6 was insurrection. How did you think about that key question?

Bellows: So I reviewed very carefully the hearing proceedings and the weight of the evidence presented to me at the hearing. And that evidence made clear, first, that those events of January 6, 2021 — and we all witnessed them — they were unprecedented. They were tragic. But they were an attack not only upon the capital and government officials, but also an attack on the rule of law, on the peaceful transfer of power. And the evidence presented at the hearing demonstrated that they occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing president. And the United States Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government. And under Maine election law, I was required to act in response.

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[-] paddirn@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago

And there will be attempts in Republican states with Republican officials to remove Biden from their ballots as a sort of "Well, if you do that to us then we'll do the same thing to you." They're trying to discredit the idea that Trump did anything wrong and make it all seem like this is all just political games. I'm kind of curious where it goes in situations like that, I'd assume all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary. There's the one issue of whether Colorado and other states can bar Trump from the ballot, but then I imagine there may be separate cases brought by Republicans about whether they can manufacture reasons to bar Biden from the ballot.

[-] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 4 points 11 months ago

and if we all decide that trump is above the law, and give in to everything the republicans demand, what do you think will happen then? do you think they'll play nice all of a sudden? no, they'll take the free win and then continue to do everything they can up to and including domestic terrorism in order to maintain power.

this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2024

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