{"id":2140074,"date":"2024-01-04T04:16:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T09:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/without-a-unanimous-scotus-smackdown-barring-opponents-from-ballots-will-be-the-norm\/"},"modified":"2024-01-04T04:25:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T09:25:34","slug":"without-a-unanimous-scotus-smackdown-barring-opponents-from-ballots-will-be-the-norm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/without-a-unanimous-scotus-smackdown-barring-opponents-from-ballots-will-be-the-norm\/","title":{"rendered":"Opponents&#8217; Exclusion from Ballots Will Be Common Without Unanimous SCOTUS Ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwithout-a-unanimous-scotus-smackdown-barring-opponents-from-ballots-will-be-the-norm%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2140074&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Maine Secretary of State Disqualifies Trump \u200dfrom Primary Ballot<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>If four\u200d Colorado state Supreme Court justices were not a small enough number of unelected individuals to determine for whom an entire state should have \u2064the right to vote,\u2062 try one. Yes, \u200bin Maine,\u200b one person, the secretary of state, unilaterally determined\u2062 that the entire voting population of the Pine Tree State should be\u2062 prevented from casting\u200c their ballots in their upcoming primary for former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Shenna Bellows, \u2063Maine\u2019s secretary of state, singularly disqualified \u2064Trump, pending appeal, from appearing on the March 5, 2024, primary ballot. \u2064&#8221;I\u200b likewise conclude that Mr. Trump was aware of the likelihood for violence and at least initially supported its use\u2064 given\u200b he both encouraged it with incendiary rhetoric and took no timely action to stop it,&#8221; wrote Bellows in\u2063 her Dec. 28 ruling.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-841317085\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1b448bd99990a8dc1b5c87e6fe6225d6 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1b448bd99990a8dc1b5c87e6fe6225d6\"><\/div>\n<p>On \u2062Tuesday, Trump appealed the \u2063Bellows decision in the Maine Superior Court.<\/p>\n<p>Bellows must be clairvoyant, given her conclusion that \u200b&#8221;Trump was aware.&#8221; Does Bellows know what\u2019s\u2063 in the head\u2064 or on the mind of the former president? She based her disqualification on a feeling, without any discernible \u200cevidence, and without\u2062 either a charge or conviction of Trump for\u200c any\u2064 lawbreaking. This flimsy case \u200dto remove\u200d Trump from the\u200b primary ballot in Maine \u2062is about as solid as\u2062 a house\u200d of cards in \u2063front of an oscillating fan.<\/p>\n<p>Bellows,\u2064 a solid partisan \u200cDemocrat who served in \u2064the Maine state Senate\u200b before the state\u2062 legislature selected\u2064 her \u2064to be\u2063 secretary of state, is \u2062not an \u2063attorney. She \u200calso served as one of the\u200b state\u2019s three Biden electors \u200dfor the presidential\u200d election of 2020, and\u200b can be seen looking very chummy with Biden in a photo taken\u200b in March. It is evident this is \u200ba\u2064 pure case of \u2062election interference and disenfranchises\u2063 more than \u2062832,000 registered voters in Maine.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the very\u200c next morning after her ruling,\u200d Bellows suspended it, \u200cpending the appeal by the \u2064Trump \u200bcampaign,\u200b saying she\u200b doesn\u2019t have the power to remove a candidate from the ballot. Her ruling \u200cis stayed \u2063until a ruling \u200cby the Maine Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>Bellows, as also cited in the Colorado case barring Trump from\u2063 the \u200dballot, referenced Section 3 of the 14th \u2064Amendment of the U.S.\u2062 Constitution as the \u2063rationale behind her decision to exclude Trump. Yet many, including legal\u2062 expert Alan\u200d Dershowitz, noted Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, \u2062which references &#8220;insurrection or rebellion,&#8221;\u200d had \u200dthe intent of keeping former members\u2062 of the Confederacy from serving in elected office.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Constitution provides\u200c for the disqualification of those who fought in the Civil War. Now Trump\u2019s old, but not old enough to have fought in the Civil War,&#8221; said Dershowitz, professor emeritus \u2062at Harvard \u2062Law School. &#8220;I\u2019m not a Trump supporter, but\u200b I want the \u2062right to vote against Trump, just like you have the right to vote for Trump, and\u2062 that right can\u2019t be denied\u2064 us by a Colorado court,\u2063 or a Michigan court, or by any court. It\u2019s just not the way the Constitution operates,&#8221; he\u200b said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Disqualify Biden Too?<\/h2>\n<p>And\u200b while \u200bthe word &#8220;insurrection&#8221; from Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is bandied about so\u2064 freely, and Trump has neither\u2064 been charged with, \u200bnor convicted of such, \u200bthat same passage also bars\u2062 from office those who have &#8220;given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.&#8221; In that case, why not\u2064 disqualify President Joe\u200d Biden for giving\u200c aid and comfort to enemies of the United \u200bStates on at least three counts?<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u200d gave the Islamic Republic \u2063of Iran $16 billion, which has freed up the same amount to be used for expanding its potential\u200b nuclear capability, which Iran has threatened to use against\u2064 the United States (the big Satan) and Israel \u2062(the little Satan). Biden \u200bhas sold off oil reserves\u200b to the\u200d Chinese Communist Party while Americans are being hammered at gas pumps all across the nation. Biden\u2019s disastrous open-border policy has\u200b allowed an estimated <a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/Users\/elean\/Dropbox\/Dropbox_MAIN\/MAIN\/The%20Federalist\/%20https\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/illegal-border-crossers-total-over-10-million-since-biden-inauguration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">8\u200d to 10 million<\/a> \u2062 unvetted illegal immigrants\u200b into the United States, and\u2064 a number of \u2062known terrorists have been captured. How\u200c many of the &#8220;got-aways&#8221; are terrorists plotting nefarious acts inside the borders of\u2064 the\u2062 United States?<\/p>\n<p>Yet neither Trump nor Biden have been charged or convicted. &#8220;If no convictions are required under Shenna Bellows\u2019 rules then that\u2019s why this is such a dangerous game she\u2019s \u200ccreated,&#8221; \u200bsaid John Andrews, a Republican state representative in Maine. &#8220;She opened the door to election chaos.\u2064 Even extremely progressive Democrat Jared Golden said she\u2019s in the\u200d wrong, that he doesn\u2019t like \u2064Trump, \u200cbut he should be on the ballot. I applaud him for saying that because he\u2019s correct; it\u2019s the right move,&#8221; said Andrews.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, before jumping to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, don\u2019t \u2062skip over Section 1: &#8220;[N]or shall any State\u200c deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process \u200dof law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Due process may have been in the back of\u200b Bellows\u2019 mind\u2062 when \u200dtweeting the following on Jan. \u200d4,\u200b 2022: &#8220;The fundamental right of any American citizen \u2063to vote \u200cfreely, fairly and to have \u200btheir vote counted is the premise of\u2062 our democracy.\u200b The Constitution\u2063 and the Bill of Rights are not values to \u2063be compromised away. #FreedomToVoteAct.&#8221; But \u2064somehow, she \u200dhypocritically forgot\u200d her\u2063 own true\u2062 words when determining unilaterally that the\u2064 former president should not appear on Maine ballots. Bellows, a former executive director with the Maine ACLU and a potential candidate for governor in 2026, seems\u200d more than a bit power-hungry.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other States that May Bar Trump<\/h2>\n<p>This sort of megalomania is being exhibited in 13 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/alisondurkee\/2023\/12\/29\/trump-14th-amendment-heres-where-lawsuits-challenging-ex-presidents-candidacy-stand-after-maine-official-disqualifies-him\/?sh=523316bbebdc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">additional states<\/a> that have lawsuits to \u2063bar Trump from their ballots: Alaska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,\u2062 Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. \u2064Republicans are almost certain to carry Alaska, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming. That\u2019s\u200b 58 potential electoral votes Trump would be excluded from garnering,\u200c and an almost certain \u200cdefeat at the polls.<\/p>\n<p>Attempts to remove Trump are &#8220;the\u2064 M.O. of the Democrat elite,&#8221; said former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, adding that these kinds \u2063of tactics are just one reason she\u2064 left the Democrat Party. &#8220;They will stop at nothing to try and\u2064 maintain their power. \u2026 They have no issue in pursuing [Trump], persecuting him through \u2063a \u200cweaponized and politicized Department \u200bof Justice,&#8221; said Gabbard.<\/p>\n<p>These same people who want to topple dictators abroad are driving \u2062this, she added.\u200b &#8220;It\u2019s not just Democrats. There are Republicans who\u2062 are\u200b threatened by President Trump\u2019s unwillingness to buy into \u2063their establishment ways.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Left-of-Center States Not Banning Trump<\/h2>\n<p>Yet even in a state as liberal as California, Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber announced that President \u200dTrump will appear \u200bon the Golden State\u2019s \u200dprimary ballots. Michigan and Minnesota announced\u200d likewise. These left-of-center states understand what is at stake \u2014 making sure the voters, the people for whom\u200c the politicians work, have the greatest access possible to support the candidates of their choice.<\/p>\n<p>This\u2064 is not about \u2063liking Trump or \u2063disliking Trump.\u2062 Nor is this about liking Biden or disliking Biden. This is about the will of the people to freely choose their elected officials, whether for president, \u200dthe Senate, the\u200b House \u2062of Representatives, or any office down-ballot \u200dto the candidates for the school \u200dboard.\u200b For\u2062 a single \u200cindividual, or the slimmest majority of a state court, to determine for\u2063 millions of voters for whom they should be allowed to vote is the kind of dangerous precedent seen in places such\u2063 as \u200bChina, \u2063Iran, and Russia, where \u2062roughly two dozen potential opponents to \u2064Vladimir\u200d Putin have been squelched from the ballot.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Supreme Court Must Rule Unanimously<\/h2>\n<p>The Supreme Court \u200dmust\u2064 step up \u2063with a unanimous\u2063 nine-to-nothing vote denying the states the ability \u200bto keep \u2064a \u200dpresidential candidate off the ballot when there is no legal reason \u2063to\u2063 do so. Anything short of total unanimity will send the wrong message. A divided\u2063 court, even\u2062 at \u200deight to\u2063 one, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-justice-department-nominee-does-about-face-on-police-protections-drug-legalization\/\" title=\"Biden Justice Department Nominee Does About Face on Police Protections, Drug Legalization\">leaves open<\/a> the door for the possibility\u2064 that a \u2064future court will determine states can willy-nilly bar a candidate from their ballots\u200d to \u200bremain \u200din power. This would be a most dangerous precedent, from which there is no turning back, and this republic would cease to exist.<\/p>\n<p>When the voters\u200c lose their right to choose, the nation loses itself, giving way to despots and\u2062 dictators like those in China,\u200c Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria,\u2064 and Venezuela. When \u2064the United States of \u200bAmerica ceases to be that &#8220;shining city on a\u200b hill,&#8221; that\u2064 beacon of hope for the truly oppressed, when people lose their freedoms of speech and religion, their right to peacefully protest their government, we become like those other despotic regimes, and the \u200dworld as we know it \u2062is \u2062damned.<\/p>\n<p>As we \u2064head\u200c into 2024, let\u2019s fight like hell, \u200cin unison\u2064 \u2014 Democrats, Republicans, independents,\u2062 even the apathetic who don\u2019t\u200d vote \u2014 to maintain the \u200dfreedoms we\u2063 cherish. Remember the words\u2063 of President Ronald Reagan: &#8220;Freedom is\u2063 never\u2064 more than one generation \u2063away from extinction. We didn\u2019t\u200d pass it along to our children in our bloodstream. It must be fought for, \u2062protected, and handed\u200c on\u2063 for them to do the same, or one \u200cday we\u2063 will spend our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/safeguarding-american-exceptionalism-is-the-way-to-a-better-world\/\" title=\"Safeguarding American Exceptionalism Is The Way To A Better World\">sunset years telling<\/a>\u200d our \u200bchildren and\u200d our children\u2019s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.&#8221;<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2>Who is Maine&#8217;s Secretary of State?<\/h2>\n<p><span>Secretary of State Shenna\u200d Bellows\u2062 is Maine&#8217;s 50th Secretary of State, sworn into her first \u200dtwo-year\u200d term \u200cin the position on Jan. 4, 2021. To vote is a dangerous precedent that undermines the democratic process.<\/p>\n<p>The decision by Shenna Bellows, the Maine Secretary of State, to disqualify former President Donald Trump from \u2064appearing on the state&#8217;s primary ballot is deeply \u2063concerning. Bellows based her \u2062ruling on the premise that Trump was aware of the likelihood for\u200b violence \u2064and supported it, without any concrete evidence or \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michael-flynns-family-files-75-million-defamation-lawsuit-against-cnn\/\" title=\"Michael Flynn\u2019s Family Files  Million Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN\">legal charges<\/a> against \u2062him. This decision is nothing short of election interference and disenfranchisement, as it prevents over 832,000 registered voters in Maine from casting their ballots for Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Bellows&#8217; ruling was met with swift opposition, leading to \u200cits suspension pending an appeal by the Trump campaign. Legal experts, including Alan Dershowitz, have criticized Bellows&#8217; interpretation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment as the rationale behind\u2062 her decision. This \u200dsection was intended to \u2063bar former members of the Confederacy from serving in elected office, \u200cnot to exclude\u200c a former president from appearing on a primary ballot. The Constitution guarantees the right to vote and be voted for, and denying this right\u200d based on the opinions of a single individual goes against the principles of democracy.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, if Bellows is using Section 3 to disqualify Trump based on alleged &#8220;insurrection,&#8221; it should be applied consistently. President Joe Biden could\u200c also be disqualified under this same section for giving aid\u200b and comfort to the enemies of the United States. \u200dBiden&#8217;s actions, such as providing billions of dollars to the Islamic Republic of Iran and implementing disastrous\u2062 policies at the \u2063border,\u200d have potentially put American lives and national security at risk.\u200c Yet neither Trump nor Biden have\u2062 been charged or convicted of any crime,\u2064 and \u2062it is unfair to selectively apply a constitutional provision to one candidate while ignoring it for another.<\/p>\n<p>Bellows&#8217; decision reflects a\u200b dangerous trend in several other states, where lawsuits are being filed to bar Trump from appearing on\u200d their primary ballots. This kind of megalomania, driven by the\u200d Democrat elite, seeks to silence opposition and manipulate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sidney-powell-is-an-american-legal-giant\/\" title=\"Sidney Powell Is an American Legal Giant\">electoral process<\/a>. It is\u2063 an abuse of power and a threat to democracy. Republicans in these states,\u2062 who understand the importance of fair and open elections, must stand up against this injustice.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, not all states are succumbing to this partisan agenda. States like California,\u200b Michigan, and Minnesota have announced that \u2064Trump\u2062 will \u2062appear on \u200btheir primary ballots, recognizing the importance of allowing voters to freely choose their preferred candidates. These states understand that electoral decisions should be made by the people, not by a single individual or a\u2062 small group \u2064of unelected officials.<\/p>\n<p>The right\u200c to vote \u200dand the right to be voted for are \u200cfundamental principles of democracy. They should not be undermined by arbitrary rulings or partisan politics. The people should have the ultimate power to choose their leaders, and any attempt\u200b to restrict\u200d or manipulate their choices is a direct attack on the democratic process. It is crucial \u200bfor all Americans, regardless of their political affiliation, to defend the \u2064integrity of elections and\u200d ensure that the voices of the people are heard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If four Colorado Supreme Court justices weren&#8217;t few enough unelected individuals to decide who can vote in the state, then try just one. In Maine, the secretary of state single-handedly decided to prevent the entire voting population of the Pine Tree State from exercising their rights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1417,"featured_media":2140075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2140074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1417"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2140074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2140075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2140074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2140074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2140074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}