Maine officials move to disqualify former player president trump He previously said the state's voter ID law, which was put on the ballot last week for the state's 2024 Republican primary, was “rooted in white supremacy.”
Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows made this assertion during testimony before Congress in April 2021, expressing opposition to a state bill that would require voters to show a photo ID to vote.
“Passing these bills means codifying discriminatory practices rooted in white supremacy,” Bellows said in his testimony. “Today, voter ID laws have become another tool for voter suppression.”
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Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows (Jon Patrikin/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
“These bills would not only negatively impact people of color, but also seniors, transients, people with disabilities, students, and low-income communities. Make our democracy as representative as possible. “We cannot institute practices that exclude certain members of society because of the “society,'' she added.
Bellows' opposition to the failed bill comes after Democrats in many states opposed Republican-led efforts to pass legislation aimed at ensuring election integrity after the 2020 presidential election. This was especially true in Georgia. Some have called similar legislation “Jim Crow 2.0.”
Last week, it was also revealed that Mr Bellows was acting as his agent. Maine District 14 He has been a state senator for about four years and has been secretary of state since 2021, and previously called the Electoral College a “relic of white supremacy.”
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Shortly after taking office, Bellows wrote an op-ed for a progressive platform known as Democracy Papers. In an article titled “Our neighbors' right to vote is just as important as our own,” she touted efforts to “make voting more accessible” and said that after elections, “My neighbors' right to vote is just as important as our own.” He said he sought the secretary of state post because he “really feared for our democracy” in the 2020 presidential election.
In her column, she denounced the Electoral College, calling it a “relic of white supremacy” that prevents fair representation of voters.
Bellows, in his ruling disqualifying Trump from the state's 2024 ballot, bars anyone who “participated in the insurrection” from running for office without the approval of two-thirds of Congress. He cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows previously said that voter ID laws are “rooted in white supremacy.” (Joe Phelan/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
This provision was originally intended to prohibit former Confederate soldiers and officers from holding positions in the U.S. government or military.
Colorado's Supreme Court cited it in a 4-3 ruling last month that barred Trump from the state's primary ballot, but that decision was challenged by the Colorado Republican Party, starting a fight at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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FOX News Digital has reached out to Bellows' office for comment.
