Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, as well as Kimberly Rosen, Thomas Saviello, and former Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling, have responded to former President Donald Trump’s motion to stay filed with the Maine Superior Court on Monday.
On January 5, the Supreme Court granted cert for former President Trump’s appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to block him from the state’s ballot.
In light of this, the former president requested that the Maine Superior Court postpone its consideration of Secretary Bellows’ decision on the same question until after the Supreme Court weighs in on the matter.
[RELATED: Bellows Boots Trump, Biden’s Top GOP Foe, from Maine’s Primary Ballot]
Bellows, as well as those who filed the primary challenge against Trump’s eligibility to appear on Maine’s ballot, have now responded to that motion, both arguing that the Superior Court ought to proceed with their consideration of the case as scheduled.
In his filing, the former president argued that although there are statutorily prescribed deadlines to which the Superior Court is expected to adhere in their review of the Secretary’s decision, failing to complete their consideration of the case within this time frame as a result of this stay would not result in a lack of jurisdiction.
[RELATED: Trump Asks Maine Superior Court to Postpone Proceedings Until SCOTUS Issues Ruling]
Both Bellows and the challengers, on the other hand, suggest that this is not the case.
Bellows also refutes a claim made by the former president in his motion that she ignored statutory deadlines in her own decision making process, contending instead that because she “kept the hearing open” until December 21, her December 28 ruling fell within the five business day requirement.
Another similarity between Bellows’ opposition statement and that of the challengers is the argument that issuing a stay until after the Supreme Court rules in the Colorado case would push the state court’s proceedings too close to Maine’s primary election date of March 5.
The Supreme Court is currently scheduled to hold oral arguments in the Colorado case on February 8, but it is not yet clear how long it will take the justices to come to a decision and release their opinion.
“While the Secretary believes that the Court does not have the authority or discretion to deviate from the deadlines set forth in [state law], staying this proceedings, as a practical matter, would be unwise and potentially harmful,” Bellows writes in her filing.
She argues that should the Supreme Court not resolve the questions set before it in such a way that the decision is clearly applicable to the circumstances in Maine, “there would be a unresolved challenge to the validity of Mr. Trump’s primary petition.”
“A stay of this proceeding, followed by a February decision from the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately force the Secretary and her staff to scramble to minimize damage to the integrity of the March 5, 2024 election,” Bellows says.
Along these same lines, the challengers argue in their opposition filing that if the Supreme Court determines “that Trump is disqualified from the office of President, thus permitting him to be removed from Colorado’s primary ballot, a stay in the proceedings here would prevent the Superior Court from being any closer to resolving state law issues in this matter, preventing his removal from Maine’s primary ballot.”
The challengers also suggest in their filing that the former president failed to demonstrate in his motion that denying a stay would cause him “any hardship or inequity,” as they argue ought to be required based on their interpretation of the law and its applicability to the circumstances at hand.
Click Here to Read the Challengers’ Full Response
In his motion, Trump argues that a stay would “not create any harm” because the timeline as it currently stands will already result in Trump’s name being printed on the state’s primary ballot.
Bellows responds to this statement in her opposition, contending that there are “notification procedures” in place should a ruling be made that the former president should, in fact, be removed from the ballot.
According to Bellows, staying these proceedings before the Superior Court would greatly shorten the length of time in which such procedures could be followed, thus causing “untenable, and avoidable” hardship.
Near the end of her opposition statement, Bellows suggests that “if the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately reverses the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision…on a ground that is dispositive here, a decision by the [Superior Court] in favor of the Secretary could be vacated promptly without impact on the March 5, 2024 primary.”
Click Here to Read Secretary Bellows’ Full Response
Based on the current schedule, parties must submit all briefs for the Superior Court proceedings by Thursday, January 11.
It still remains to be seen how the Maine Superior Court will rule on the former president’s motion to stay its proceedings pending a decision from the United States Supreme Court.
Click Here to Read the Maine Wire’s Coverage of Fmr. Pres. Trump’s Motion to Stay
