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We do not fully agree with Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ decision to bar former President Donald Trump from Maine’s primary ballot after she concluded he engaged in an insurrection for his role in the events of Jan. 6, 2021. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bars from office those who have “engaged in insurrection.”
However, we should all be able to agree that threats of violence against Bellows and members of her staff are an inappropriate response to a difficult decision, made especially fraught by our tense and divisive political atmosphere.
Bellows is neither a fascist nor a hero for doing her job. What emanates from her 33-page decision, which was issued late last week, is a public official thoughtfully wrestling with very weighty and contentious events to make a determination that was sure to be met with anger and hostility.
Rather than harassing and threatening Bellows and her staff – or trying to impeach her – there are appropriate legal avenues to challenge her decision, which she rightly put on hold pending court action. The Trump legal team has already filed an appeal in Maine and is expected to appeal a ruling in Colorado, where the state’s supreme court ruled last month that Trump was ineligible for the ballot because of his actions on Jan. 6.
“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote in her Dec. 28 decision. “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.’”
“I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection,” she added.
This is a difficult assessment and where we part company with Bellows. As she notes in her decision, the events of Jan. 6, 2021 were “unprecedented and tragic” and they were a clear assault on our democracy. It has been obvious to us since then that Trump bears responsibility for that assault, having encouraged attempts to undermine the results of the 2020 election, and not doing enough to stop the violence that day. What is less clear is the applicability of the 14th Amendment, as officials in different states have come to differing conclusions.
We supported his second impeachment trial for his role in spurring the violence at the Capitol and we encouraged senators to vote to convict him on these charges. The Senate did not do so and Trump has not been found guilty in court on charges related to the violence of Jan. 6. Those judicial proceedings, along with others related to election interference and the former president’s handling of classified information are ongoing. As are cases related to his private businesses.
Because of the many charges that Trump faces, along with his disregard for political norms, coupled with his long history of misogyny and demeaning and threatening comments against his political opponents, we have long believed that he is not qualified for the presidency. That hasn’t changed.
However, without consistent and definitive court findings that Trump engaged in insurrection, it is likely damaging to public trust for politicians, including secretaries of state ( especially those chosen by the Legislature and not elected by voters), to make this determination. Rather, it should be up to voters to decide whether they wish to support Trump or not.
It should be noted that Bellows, a Democrat, did not seek to disqualify Trump from the Maine ballot of her own volition. Several Mainers, including two former Republican state lawmakers, filed petitions to bar Trump from the Maine ballot because of his involvement in the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Bellows was required by law to act on those petitions, which she did in a proceeding that involved many filings and a hearing that included lawyers for Trump. Further, Bellows’ decision may have no practical impact because she stayed it pending action from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sadly, the heated response to Bellows’ ruling was not unexpected. Obviously, death threats against Bellows and her staff are vile and inappropriate. As was the swatting of Bellows’ residence. The Maine Wire, a publication of the conservative Maine Policy Institute, portraying Bellows with a Hitler mustache on social media is irresponsible and fuels this hatred.
There are deep divisions in America. We cannot hope to heal those divisions if we continue to demonize and threaten one another. We can respect Bellows’ thoughtfulness and the thorough process involved, without endorsing her conclusion.
