FARMINGTON – Following three challenges by voters in Maine, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled last week that Mr. Donald Trump is not eligible to be on Maine ballots in the upcoming Republican Primary election. This decision has since been stayed by Bellows until appeals submitted by Trump have been ruled on.
Tom Saviello, of Wilton, is one of the individuals who filed a challenge with the Secretary of State’s office. This week, Saviello discussed his reasons behind this challenge with the Bulldog.
“I did what I think is right,” Saviello said.
Per the decision filed by Bellows, which can be found as a PDF here, two challenges were filed on similar claims, while a third, which Bellows determined was not applicable, was filed for a different claim.
“I voted for Trump,” Saviello said, adding that he voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020 because he didn’t like the other candidates. “However, on January 6, 2021, […] when he did that to incite, encourage, what I believe was an insurrection on our capital, I changed my mind about Mr. Trump. I had no place to go with it, I just kept digging and understanding it. Heard about the fourteenth amendment, kept digging into what that said, found out about section three, watched the Colorado decision, and said ‘I need to do something.’ And then I was given the opportunity to be one of the three that asked that Mr. Trump be taken off the ballot because he does not meet the qualifications. In my mind, he created, incited, did everything he could to that insurrection. […] I had my opportunity. I took it. I am not being paid. Our lawyers are doing this pro bono. And that’s why I did it.”
“I think ultimately it will be decided by the courts, the courts will make the decision. And I will live with that decision,” Saviello continued. “Remember, I’m just a forester. I’m not a lawyer. I’m a recovering politician.”
Saviello noted that Congress delegated election responsibilities to the individual states, and then each state decided how they were going to handle that. In Maine, that was delegated to the Secretary Of State under 21A.
In response to statements from multiple state legislators and candidates who have called for Bellows’ impeachment following this decision, Saviello encouraged them to read through Maine State laws. “Show me where she broke the law,” Saviello said, stating that the challenge and subsequent decision-making proceedings followed the due process outlined in Maine state law until 21A and Title 5. “She did what she was supposed to do.”
In early December, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows confirmed that Trump had enough signatures to go on the ballot for the Republican Primary, similarly determining that candidate Chris Christie did not have enough signatures to qualify.
Following that action, Saviello, along with Kimberly Rosen, a former Republican State Senator from Bucksport, and Ethan Strimling, a former Democratic State Senator from Portland, filed a challenge to Trump’s nomination, arguing that he was not qualified under the Section Three of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Part of the process that followed before Bellows made her decision included a hearing, in which Rep. Mike Soboleski of Phillips testified in support of Trump. Soboleski, who was elected to the state legislature in 2022, is running for Maine’s second district seat in Congress.
Soboleski gave the following statement to the Bulldog on Friday, January 5. “Obstructing President Trump’s access to our Presidential Ballot is to blatantly disenfranchise voters. Shenna Bellows is not operating as a non-partisan elected official; instead, her actions are those of a Democrat operative seeking to help Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, which is why I called for her impeachment. I believe the appeals will be successful at both the state [and] federal levels.”
The Maine House Republicans also discussed the ruling in their weekly radio address, which was released on Friday. Rep. Michael Lemelin of Chelsea spoke against “unelected bureaucrats”, saying that they are “restricting Mainers’ freedoms.”
The transcript of the radio address reads, in relevant part, “This past week Maine’s Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, unilaterally decided to remove the leading candidate for president from the Maine ballot. She did so knowing that her decision is unconstitutional and will be struck down.
“The 14th Amendment to the Constitution states that no State shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
“Should one person engage in massive voter suppression by limiting the people’s right to choose their preferred candidate for office?
“What if I told you that Shenna Bellows has no legal background and served as a Presidential Elector for Joe Biden in 2020?
“Her ability to conduct and oversee a statewide election fairly is now compromised.”
The press release put forth on December 28, 2023 by the Secretary of State’s Office on the topic outlines the challenges and the decision as follows:
In the first challenge, Mary Ann Royal of Winterport alleged that Mr. Trump violated his oath of office because he engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or has given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. In the second challenge, Paul Gordon of Portland argued that because Mr. Trump has expressly stated that he won the 2020 election, he is barred from office under the Twenty-Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which sets a two-term limit on Presidents. In the third challenge, Kimberly Rosen a former Republican State Senator from Bucksport, Thomas Saviello, a former Republican State Senator from Wilton and Ethan Strimling, a former Democratic State Senator from Portland collectively contend that Mr. Trump is barred from office because he engaged in insurrection as defined by Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment.
A consolidated hearing was held at 10 a.m. on Friday, December 15 in Augusta. The hearing was live streamed to the Department’s YouTube and is still available to view online.
Secretary Bellows concluded that Mr. Trump’s primary petition is invalid. Specifically, the Secretary ruled that the declaration on his candidate consent form is false because he is not qualified to hold the office of the President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment.
In the decision, Secretary Bellows said,
“I conclude… that the record establishes that Mr. Trump, over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power. I likewise conclude that Mr. Trump was aware of the likelihood for violence and at least initially supported its use given he both encouraged it with incendiary rhetoric and took no timely action to stop it.
“Mr. Trump’s occasional requests that rioters be peaceful and support law enforcement do not immunize his actions. A brief call to obey the law does not erase conduct over the course of months, culminating in his speech on the Ellipse. The weight of the evidence makes clear that Mr. Trump was aware of the tinder laid by his multi-month effort to delegitimize a democratic election, and then chose to light a match.”
On the Gordon challenge, Secretary Bellows said, “There appears to be no dispute between any of the parties that President Biden prevailed over Mr. Trump. Therefore, given Mr. Trump has only won a single election for President, he is not barred from being elected to the same office again under the Twenty-Second Amendment.”
Secretary Bellows concluded the decision, saying:
“I do not reach this conclusion lightly. Democracy is sacred… I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection. The oath I swore to uphold the Constitution comes first above all, and my duty under Maine’s election laws, when presented with a Section 336 challenge, is to ensure that candidates who appear on the primary ballot are qualified for the office they seek.
“The events of January 6, 2021 were unprecedented and tragic. They were an attack not only upon the Capitol and government officials, but also an attack on the rule of law. The evidence here demonstrates that they occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President. The U.S. Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government, and Section 336 requires me to act in response.”
The challenger or candidate may appeal this decision by commencing an action in the Superior Court within five days of this date, pursuant to 21-A MRSA section 337, subsection 2, paragraph D.
The press release from the Secretary of State’s Office ends with, “Given the compressed timeframe, the novel constitutional questions involved, the importance of this case, and impending ballot preparation deadlines, Secretary Bellows has suspended the effect of her decision until the Superior Court rules on any appeal, or the time to appeal has expired.”
Trump has appealed the decision to Maine’s Superior Court. From there, the case could potentially go to Maine’s Supreme Court, and possibly as high as the U.S. Supreme Court, which has agreed to take up the Colorado decision.
The Maine Republican Primary is on March 5, 2024. Absentee ballots are to be provided to the municipalities no less than 30 days before the election. At this time, since Bellows suspended the effect of her decision until a ruling is reached on an appeal, Trump could remain on the ballots for the Primary. It is unclear at this point how those votes would be counted if the courts uphold Bellows’ ruling.
A PDF copy of the decision is here.
