Trump disqualified from Maine state ballot: Reuters

The news: Maine has become the second state to bar Donald Trump from its state ballot over his involvement in the invasion of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, Reuters reports. Earlier in December, the safe Democrat state of Colorado became the first to enact a post-Civil War constitutional provision preventing insurrectionists and rebels from holding office.

The numbers: Maine is also considered likely to vote Democrat in 2024, but Trump did secure one electoral vote there in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Candidates need least 270 electoral college votes to win office. Yesterday, judges in Michigan threw out a similar challenge to ban Trump from the state ballot.

The context: The two bans in Colorado and Maine only apply to Trump's primary elections in each state, but they could effect his standing for the 2024 US presidential election. Trump has vowed to challenge the Colorado decision in the US Supreme Court, and would likely look for a nationwide decision on the provision. Colorado's Republican Party filed its appeal to the top court earlier this week. Conservative justices hold a 6:3 majority in the US Supreme Court, including three appointed during Trump's presidency.