Democrats and political experts warn barring Trump from ballots could 'backfire'

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Maine Sec. of State says she's received 'threatening communications' following Trump decision

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows told CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins about "threatening communications" she has received in the hours after banning former President Trump from her state’s presidential primary ballot.

A report from The New York Times quoted Democratic Party lawmakers, voters and political experts who, despite being critical toward former President Trump, are "conflicted" about the ballot bans against him in Colorado and Maine, with some warning they could "backfire."

The report, written by Jack Healy, Anna Betts, Mike Baker and Jill Cowan, started with the perspective of Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, who the paper noted is "troubled by the threat former President Donald J. Trump poses to democracy and fears the prospect of his return to power." 

Despite these fears, the Democratic Party lawmaker "also worries that recent decisions in Maine and Colorado to bar Mr. Trump from presidential primary ballots there could backfire, further eroding Americans’ fraying faith in U.S. elections," the Times reported.

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Multiple Democratic Party officials, voters, and political experts told The New York Times that state ballot bans against former President Trump may "backfire" for democracy. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Capturing his conflict over the matter, the outlet quoted him, saying, "Removing him from the ballot would, on its face value, seem very anti-democratic, but so is trying to overthrow your country."

The Times spoke to Stanford Law School professor Nate Persily, who said: "We are walking in new constitutional snow here to try and figure out how to deal with these unprecedented developments." 

As the paper noted, Persily views these ballot bans as happening "amid a collapse of faith in the American electoral system." 

"This is not a political and electoral system that can deal with ambiguity right now," he said, adding that he hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will clear things up with whatever decision it makes.

The Times also spoke to some Democratic Party voters who said they are uneasy about the situation. 

"Deena Drewis, 37, a copy writer, and Aaron Baggaley, 43, a contractor, both of whom have consistently voted for Democrats, expressed a queasy ambivalence over such an extraordinary step," the paper reported.

Baggaley, who lives in Los Angeles, said: "I’m really just conflicted. It’s hard to imagine he didn’t fully engage in insurrection. Everything points to it. But the other half of the country is in a position where they feel like it should be up to the electorate."

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Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows discussed her decision to bar Trump from her state's primary ballot with CNN this week. (Screenshot/CNN)

The Times also mentioned how even Democratic officials in California can’t endorse the ballot bans. 

"California’s Democratic secretary of state, Shirley Weber, announced on Thursday that Mr. Trump would remain on the ballot, and Gov. Gavin Newsom dismissed calls by other Democrats to remove him," it noted. 

It added a quote from the governor: "We defeat candidates at the polls. Everything else is a political distraction."

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"In interviews, some voters and experts said it was premature to disqualify Mr. Trump because he had not been criminally convicted of insurrection," the report also mentioned, adding their worries "that red-state officials could use the tactic to knock Democratic candidates off future ballots, or that the disqualifications could further poison the country’s political divisions while giving Mr. Trump a new grievance to rail against."

Johns Hopkins University professor and political scientist Yascha Mounk told The Times: "The only way to neutralize the danger posed by authoritarian populists like Donald Trump is to beat them at the ballot box, as decisively as possible and as often as it takes."

Liberal media columnists have made the same points in recent weeks. L.A. Times columnist Mark Barabak slammed the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision last Tuesday, calling it a "boost" to Trump in a column.

"… Democrats will have to beat him at the ballot box, as they should. A courtroom is no place to decide a presidential election — which is exactly what the Supreme Court did in 2000," he added. 

In a column published on CNN.com last week, University of Pennsylvania political science senior lecturer Damon Linker said the Colorado Supreme Court’s Tuesday Trump decision is "breathtakingly foolish." 

The scholar also said: "Trump and his populist style of politics can’t be defeated by lawyers and judges. They can only be beaten at the ballot box."