Maine has joined Colorado in banning Trump from 2024 primary ballot. What happens next?

Maine became the second state after Colorado to bar former President Donald Trump from appearing on its 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot, state officials announced late Thursday.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said the “insurrectionist ban" in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies to Trump and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It's the same reason Colorado barred Trump.

Evidence shows the attack "occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President (Trump)," Bellows wrote in her 34-page decision.

Maine’s decision came nine days after, and is separate from, the Colorado Supreme Court's unprecedented ruling Dec. 19 that disqualified Trump from its primary ballot. Those decisions will continue to reverberate across the nation.

Bellows said she will wait until courts rule on her decision before removing Trump from the primary ballot. That means Trump will probably appear on the ballot on March 5, USA TODAY reported.

In California, Trump will be on the state primary ballot despite pressure to remove him, Secretary of State Shirley Weber said late Thursday.

Colorado and Maine have barred Trump from ballot

Both decisions are certain to be appealed, Maine to the state Superior Court, Colorado to U.S. Supreme Court. Maine is likely to end up in the Supreme Court as well.

In its 4-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court invoked the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. It ruled Trump is ineligible to appear on the ballot because he engaged in insurrection by inciting the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Lawsuits opposing Trump are the first to invoke Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against a presidential candidate. Suits have been filed in more than 30 states.

Trump's lawyers say they will appeal the Colorado decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. A ruling there could decide if Trump can appear on all state ballots.

Bellows's decision could take a similar route through the Maine court system as in Colorado. There, the lawsuit wound its way through state courts in 104 days of filings with more than 150 documents and 2,200 pages. Highlights include:

Sept. 6

Six Colorado voters − four Republicans and two unaffiliated − file a 115-page lawsuit that asks a state court in Denver to prevent Trump from appearing on the presidential primary ballot.

The petitioners say that under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, Trump should be ineligible to run for president because on Jan. 6, 2021, he "engaged in a violent insurrection at the United States Capitol."

The suit, Anderson v. Griswold, is filed on behalf of the six voters and the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Sept. 7

Trump seeks to move the case to federal court in Colorado.

Sept. 12

U.S. District Court orders the case back to Denver District Court.

Sept. 18

Colorado secretary of state says presidential candidates must be certified for the ballot by Jan. 5, 2024.

Sept. 22

Trump seeks to have the case dismissed before a trial is held. The request is later denied.

Oct. 11

Colorado secretary of state receives Trump's statement of intent to enter presidential primary.

Oct. 30

Trial begins in Denver District Court.

Nov. 15

Closing arguments in Denver District Court.

Nov. 17

Denver District Judge Sarah B. Wallace rules that Trump’s conduct meets the standard for disqualification under the 14th Amendment − that he “engaged in insurrection” − but that the amendment doesn’t apply to candidates running for president. The decision keeps Trump on the primary election ballot.

Nov. 20-21

Petitioners and Trump appeal to Colorado Supreme Court.

Dec. 6

Colorado Supreme Court hears oral arguments.

Dec. 19

In a 133-page decision, the Colorado Supreme Court rules 4-3 that Trump is ineligible for the White House under the Constitution’s insurrection clause and removes him from the state’s presidential primary ballot.

However, the court postpones its ruling from taking effect until Jan. 4. That's the day before candidates must be certified by the Colorado Secretary of State's office. This allows Trump to remain on the ballot and gives him time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump's lawyers say they will appeal the decision, which would further postpone any impact from the Colorado court ruling until the Supreme Court resolves the appeal.

Dec. 20

Social media outlets are flooded with threats against Colorado justices who ruled in the case.

What can the US Supreme Court do?

If the court declines to review the case, the Colorado Supreme Court's decision will stand. If that happened before Jan. 5, Trump would be removed from the Republican primary election ballot in Colorado.

If the court decides to review, it could look at different parts of the case:

• Does Section 3 of the 14th Amendment apply to presidential candidates?

• May state courts decide whether Trump was part of an insurrection?

How has the Supreme Court ruled on Trump cases?

In previous appeals, the court:

July 9, 2020: Ruled 7-2 against Trump's motion to block New York state prosecutors from seeking his financial records.

Jan. 19, 2022:Declined to hear Trump's appeal of an appeals court decision allowing a House panel to review White House records related to the Jan. 6 riot.

Oct. 13, 2022: Rejected Trump's request for the court to intervene in the case of classified documents seized by the FBI at Trump's Florida estate.

Dec. 22, 2023: Declined to decide whether Trump is immune from prosecution on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting Trump in the Jan. 6 case, asked the court to bypass an appeals court that is also reviewing the case.

Are Colorado Supreme Court justices all Democrats?No.

Though all seven of the state Supreme Court justices were appointed by Democratic governors, three are registered Democrats, according to Colorado Public Radio. Three claim no political affiliation on their voter registrations and one is a Republican.

Justices serve for two years after being appointed. Colorado voters then decide by a yes/no ballot whether to return them to office for a 10-year term. Six justices have won their elections. The seventh, appointed in 2021, has a retention election in 2024 along with two others.

In the Dec. 19 ruling, three of the justices, including Chief Justice Brian Boatright, dissented from the majority opinion. Boatright noted that Trump has not been convicted of inciting insurrection. Justice Carlos Samour said the state's review process deprived Trump of his right to due process.

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CONTRIBUTING John Fritze and David Jackson, USA TODAY

SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Associated Press; Colorado Secretary of State office; Colorado Judicial Branch; Lawfare Institute; Maine Department of Secretary of State

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Trump removed from Maine and Colorado 2024 ballots. What happens now?