U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) is objecting to the decision by Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 GOP primary ballot in the state. Echoing the ruling made recently by the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Trump from its primary ballot, Bellow contends that Trump violated the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause.”
Collins argues on X: “Maine voters should decide who wins the election – not a Secretary of State chosen by the Legislature. The Secretary of State’s decision would deny thousands of Mainers the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice, and it should be overturned.”
To get technical about it, the decision was made by the drafters of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution following the Civil War https://t.co/jPiATMguly
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) December 30, 2023
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance replied to Collins: “To get technical about it, the decision was made by the drafters of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution following the Civil War.”
Political pundit Keith Olbermann chimed in with sarcasm when he addressed Collins: “I want to vote for Bill Clinton again. So by your logic, I can – right?”
Note: Secretary Bellows, who is Maine’s 50th Secretary of State and the first female in the position, currently serves on the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Elections, Cybersecurity, State Records and Archives, Business Services, and International Relations Committees. Bellows was a 2020 presidential elector in the Electoral College and was a member of the bipartisan 2021 NASS Task Force on Vote Verification.
