At the heart of the disqualification efforts is the 14th Amendment of the Constitution,which was adopted in 1868 and has a section that disqualifies former government officials who have betrayed their oaths by engaging in “insurrection or rebellion” from holding office. The provision,Section 3,was intended to bar Confederate officials from serving in the US government.
The provision specifically says that anyone who served as “an officer of the United States”,took an oath to support the Constitution,and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” shall not hold any government office. It includes a provision that Congress can waive the prohibition with a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate.
With the legal challenges mounting,the US Supreme Court is widely expected to take up the issue,and experts say the scope of the decision would determine if the challenges are quickly handled or play out for months.
Over the years,the courts and Congress have done little to clarify how that criterion should apply,adding urgency to the calls for the US Supreme Court to weigh in on the politically explosive dispute before the upcoming election.
Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Thursday that Trump did not qualify for the Republican primary ballot there because of his role in the January 6,2021,attack on the US Capitol. She agreed with a handful of citizens who claimed that he had incited an insurrection and was thus barred from seeking the presidency again under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
In a written decision,Bellows,a Democrat,said that while no one in her position had ever barred a candidate from the ballot based on Section 3 of the amendment,“no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection”.