Maine House votes down impeachment order against Sec. Bellows over Trump ruling

State representatives voted down a formal impeachment request against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Tuesday for her decision to disqualify former President Donald Trump from Maine’s ballot under the “insurrection” clause of the U.S. Constitution.

With 60 members of the House voting in support and 80 voting against in a mostly party-line vote, the House Order, filed by Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris) last week, failed.

The order asked the House Special Investigative Committee to review alleged misconduct in Bellows’ proceedings, including her “failure to recuse herself for bias,” which Andrews wrote was “evidenced by her serving as a Maine presidential elector for Joseph R. Biden in the 2020 election.”

Following the vote, Bellows told Maine Morning Star that she sees the vote as a signal that the majority of the House recognized that she did her job as obligated by law.

“I am committed to working with everyone regardless of how they voted today to move forward,” Bellows said. “We have important work to do together, regardless of our differences.”

Legislators who supported the impeachment order argued Bellows overstepped her authority and called her ruling a means of voter suppression. Those who spoke out against advancing the impeachment order said the move was an improper remedy for disagreeing with a decision that was made in adherence to the law.

Instead, they pointed to the avenues the legal system affords for such disagreement to be handled — a process currently underway as Trump’s counsel has appealed the decision to the Maine Superior Court.

Next steps in Maine

Bellows sided with citizens who filed challenges to Trump’s primary election eligibility based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits those who took an oath to uphold the Constitution as an officer of the U.S. and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or gave “aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” from holding office again.

Bellows ruled on Dec. 28 that Trump engaged in insurrection because of his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and therefore did not meet the qualifications to hold office.

Behind 14th Amendment argument to disqualify Trump: process, reasoning and the role of partisanship

While Maine’s ballot challenge process is distinct from other states in requiring the secretary of state to issue a ruling before the courts, Bellows’ decision came after the Colorado Supreme Court reached the same conclusion. The U.S. Supreme Court has since agreed to review the Colorado ruling.

Earlier this week, Trump’s legal team filed a brief asking the Maine Superior Court to delay its proceedings until the highest court rules on Trump’s appeal of the Colorado decision. Trump’s counsel argued that the court in Maine could stay the decision under its authority to manage its docket efficiently and that doing so would not result in any harm.

Bellows and the former Maine lawmakers who filed one of the two 14th Amendment challenges in Maine disagreed. Each subsequently asked the Superior Court to deny Trump’s request.

Bellows wrote that the court doesn’t have the authority to deviate from the deadline set by Maine statute, which stipulates that it issue its decision within 20 days of the secretary of state’s decision. This means the Superior Court must issue its decision by Jan. 17.

Further, Bellows wrote, “staying this proceeding, as a practical matter, would be unwise and potentially harmful.” If the Supreme Court doesn’t definitively and promptly resolve the matter, there would be an unresolved challenge to the validity of Trump’s primary petition days before the vote, which could put the integrity of the election at risk, she wrote.

Staying the court’s proceedings and staying Bellows’ decision are not one in the same. Bellows already stayed her decision pending appeal, so Trump will remain on the ballot until the Superior Court — and then pending further appeal the Maine Supreme Judicial Court — issues its decision.

Bellows said she will implement whatever the final ruling is from the courts.

“Voters can be confident that they will receive ballots in a timely way and will have full and fair information as they cast those ballots,” Bellows said. “Maine law has procedures for what happens if a candidate is placed on the ballot and later found to be disqualified, just as if a candidate were to pass away or withdraw. Our job as election officials is to follow the law and ensure the smooth administration of our elections.”

Legislators speak for and against impeachment

The vote on Tuesday within the Democratic-controlled legislature largely fell along partisan lines. Republican members voted in support and Democratic members voted in opposition, with the exception of Rep. David Woodsome (R-Waterboro) joining the Democrats. Woodsome did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. There were ten absences and one vacancy.

Legislative Republicans launch process to impeach Maine Secretary of State Bellows

Accusations of bias against Bellows wove throughout statements made by representatives who urged their colleagues to vote in favor of the impeachment order on Tuesday.

Rep. Michael Soboleski (R-Phillips) said Bellows should have recused herself as presiding officer of the hearing because she served in 2020 as an elector of Biden, who is considered the other frontrunner alongside Trump in the 2024 election, setting up a potential rematch.

“It would seem that Secretary Bellows did not act ethically and instead did what was best for her preferred candidate in the Democrat Party instead of the voters of the state of Maine,” Soboleski said.

In response to these accusations of bias, Bellows told Maine Morning Star on Tuesday, “I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and follow the law without bias or any regard for my personal views, or even my safety.” Following her decision, Bellows has received threats, one of which led to police swatting her home.

Legislators who spoke in favor of moving forward with impeachment proceedings also characterized Bellows’ decision as an affront to voters’ rights.

“We are no longer free to vote for whom we choose,” said Rep. Edward Polewarczyk (R-Wiscasset).

Rep. James Thorne (R-Carmel), who was the first to speak on Tuesday, said, “I find the secretary of state guilty of voter suppression, and I also find her guilty of suppression of free speech.”

Rep. Joseph Underwood (R-Presque Isle), who said he personally collected signatures for Trump to get on the ballot, expressed his disappointment that his efforts were for naught. “As far as I’m concerned,” he said, “this is election interference.”

Those who came to Bellows’ defense criticized the characterization of her as biased.

“Throughout her time in office, she has gone above and beyond to carry out her duties with integrity and professionalism, often working across the aisle to ensure our democracy is strong,” said Rep. Laura Supica (D-Bangor), who spoke out in opposition to the impeachment order.

Agreement with Bellows’ decision is irrelevant in whether it is a valid decision, several representatives argued.

“Simply making this decision, while it might not be popular for some, does not constitute engaging in partisan politics,” said Rep. Maureen “Mo” Terry (D-Gorham), “and most importantly does not meet the high threshold for removal from office via impeachment as outlined in the Maine constitution.”

Rep. Adam Lee (D-Auburn), who has practiced law for 17 years, said he has received hundreds of opinions he disagreed with. He has never thought impeachment to be a proper remedy and does not think so in this case either, he explained.

“First, because no matter how terrible I thought a decision was, I understood that the person making the decision was simply making the decision they were charged to make by the law-making body,” Lee said. “And second, because the beautiful thing about our legal system is it affords numerous appeals and other mechanisms by which we can filter out erroneous decisions.”

Lee urged representatives who have criticized Bellows’ proceedings to take issue not with her but the body that established Maine’s ballot challenge proceedings — the state legislature.

“If the process is so problematic and so scurrilous,” Lee said, “I’d imagine that one of us could perhaps convince a state legislator to put in a bill that places the decision with somebody else.”

Maine Morning Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maine Morning Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lauren McCauley for questions: info@mainemorningstar.com. Follow Maine Morning Star on Facebook and Twitter.