‘No Labels’ party qualifies for ballot access in Maine

By Shania Shelton, CNN

(CNN) — The business-friendly centrist group “No Labels” has qualified to participate in the Maine primary election as a new political party, according to a press release from the secretary of state’s office.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Friday confirmed the No Labels party after it exceeded the number of enrolled voters needed to qualify for the ballot. The group was required to have 5,000 voters enrolled in the party to qualify for the primary and boasted 9,423 Maine voters as of January 2.

This also allows the party to have ballot access in the presidential election in November.

The party submitted a request to form a new party in December, leading to a review. Bellows notified No Labels of the status on Friday.

The news comes amid uncertainty over whether former President Donald Trump will appear on Maine’s primary ballot after Bellows removed him because of his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Trump asked a Maine court on Tuesday to overturn the decision.

Bellows, a Democrat, announced her decision last week, saying that she had a legal obligation to remove Trump from the ballot under a Civil War-era provision of the Constitution that prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.

Bellows paused her decision, which applies only to Maine, so that Trump could appeal it in court before the presidential primary election there on March 5.

The decision makes Maine the second state to disqualify Trump from office, after the Colorado Supreme Court handed down its own stunning ruling that removed him from the ballot last month.

Any ruling from the US Supreme Court would be the final say on whether Trump is eligible to appear on the primary ballot in Colorado, Maine and other states where his eligibility is being challenged.

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