Former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) filed an appeal this Wednesday the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to bar him from the Republican primary in that state, according to The Washington Post.
A day later, his legal team presented the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to appeal a similar decision in Maine to the Kennebec Superior Court.
In both states, the former president was considered a new election candidate cannot run for a second term in the White House under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment for participating in an “insurrection.”
The Colorado Supreme Court's veto was announced on December 19th. It was an unprecedented decision and was related to the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which occurred while Democrat Joe Biden's election victory over Trump was being confirmed.
Later, on December 28, Maine became the second state to disqualify Trump. In this case, The decision was made by Maine's Democratic Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows.the authority responsible for organizing elections in that constituency.
Trump's lawyers argued yesterday in Maine that Bellows' decision “the product of a process tainted by bias and a general lack of due process.”as well as that “it is arbitrary and arbitrary” and that “it is not supported by any substantial evidence on file.”
Section 3 of the XIV Amendment provides for this shall not be a senator or representative in Congressnor voters for the election of President and Vice President, (…) who has previously sworn to defend the Magna Carta, participated in an insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or provided aid or relief to enemies of the country.
The paragraph does not explicitly mention the office of president, but rather each state in the American federal system is responsible for organizing elections, including presidential electionsand therefore has the power to disqualify a candidate even if he has not been impeached, reducing his support in the general race.
Both Maine and Colorado have primary elections on March 5tha day known as Super Tuesday because more than a dozen Republican and Democratic states hold primaries simultaneously to decide which candidate will represent them in the presidential election.