The recent decision by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to bar former President Trump from appearing on Maine’s ballot elicited lots of pearl-clutching from across the political spectrum. Republicans were obviously enraged; some independents and establishment Democrats, accustomed to worrying more about how things will be perceived than whether they are right, were predictably aghast, too.
The simple truth is that, according to the U.S. Constitution, if you try to overthrow the government, you are officially ineligible to lead it. One of the secretary of state’s key responsibilities is to determine the eligibility of candidates to appear on the ballot. Are they old enough? Were they born in America? Have they led an armed insurrection to try and overturn the results of a free and fair election?
Secretary Bellows’ decision was not a conviction in a court of law. It was a determination of ineligibility based on established facts we all watched live on Jan. 6, 2021. It’s politically fraught, and may well be overturned by the Supreme Court (though the court’s “strict constructionists” will have to do some Olympic gymnast-level contortions to get around the language of the 14th Amendment). But it is entirely sound and defensible.
And frankly, it is a heartening reminder that treasonous acts have consequences, as they should.
Jeremy Cluchey
Bowdoinham
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