PORTLAND, Maine (NEWSnet/AP) — A Maine judge on Wednesday postponed a decision on former President Donald Trump’s ballot status to allow time for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on a similar case in Colorado.
Trump’s lawyers appealed in state court after Secretary of State Shenna Bellows removed his name from the presidential primary ballot, then asked the judge to pause proceedings to allow the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the Colorado case, a rule that could render the lawsuit moot.
Superior Court Judge Michaela Murphy concluded she lacks authority to stay the judicial proceedings, but wrote that she does have authority to send the case back to the secretary of state with instructions to await the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court case before withdrawing, modifying or upholding her decision.
The judge said issues raised in the Maine case mirror the issues raised in the Colorado case. She wrote that her decision “minimizes any potentially destabilizing effect of inconsistent decisions and will promote greater predictability in the weeks ahead of the primary election.”
“Put simply, the United State Supreme Court’s acceptance of the Colorado case changes everything,” she wrote.
Bellows concluded last month that Trump does not meet ballot qualifications under the insurrection clause in the U.S. Constitution, citing his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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