(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Could Washington state drop Trump from the ballot under a law barring convicted felons from running? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-02 Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat has raised an interesting question: As a convicted felon, could Donald Trump be dropped from the November ballot based on a state law? In a column published Saturday, Westneat wrote that if Republicans nominate Trump, someone probably will try to dump Trump from the Washington ballot because the state has a law on the books against convicted felons running for office. Westneat wrote: It was first established back when Washington was a territory, in 1865, that anyone convicted of “infamous crimes” could be blocked from holding elected office. That was modified in 1959, and then again more recently, to the scheme we have today. Any registered voter can “challenge the right of a candidate to appear on the general election ballot” for any of five causes, state law says. One of those causes is flashing in bold neon lights today: “Because the person whose right is being contested was, previous to the election, convicted of a felony by a court of competent jurisdiction, the conviction not having been reversed nor the person’s civil rights restored after the conviction.” How about 34 felonies? The columnist quoted Seattle attorney David Vogel, a former deputy prosecutor for King County, “I have clients lined up who are going to be all over pursuing a ballot challenge in this case,” Vogel was also involved in an unsuccessful lawsuit filed by Kitsap County residents who had sought to remove Trump from the state ballot, arguing that his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and make him ineligible for office under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Now it’s quite likely that a federal court would rule that that the Washington law only applies to state and local candidates, not a presidential contender. That’s because the U.S. Constitution sets out only a few eligibility requirements for presidential candidates. They must be at least 35 years old, be a “natural born” U.S. citizen and have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years. The constitution does not bar candidates with criminal records from running for office. And the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Colorado and other states that sought to disqualify Trump under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause. The high court found that only Congress can enforce the insurrection clause. In a separate article, CBS News quoted several constitutional scholars who believe the U.S. Constitution trumps any state law barring convicted felons from the ballot. CBS News wrote: "There's a wide understanding that the qualifications listed in the Constitution are exclusive — that is, we can't add to those qualifications," said Derek Muller, an election law professor at the University of Notre Dame. He added, "Whether or not you've been convicted of a felony is immaterial for qualification purposes." Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law professor at Loyola University and a CBS News contributor, stated plainly: "The Constitution does not have any prohibition on serving as president if you're a convicted felon." Westneat asked the Secretary of State’s Office if there was some reason the law allowing ballot challenges against convicted felons might not apply in Trump’s case. He wrote that the office answered: “Whether that provision applies would be a question for courts to decide.” The columnist mentioned that states do have some latitude in excluding some presidential candidates from the ballot if they don’t meet filing deadlines or signature requirements. Ohio Republicans had been debating whether to bar President Joe Biden from its ballot over a filing deadline issue that has since been resolved. The Associated Press, in a January 2023 story before any of the four criminal indictments against Trump were filed, wrote that state laws vary widely on whether convicted felons can run for office. Under Washington state law a voter can file a challenge once candidates are certified to appear on the November ballot, which usually occurs after the parties hold their national nominating conventions. Westneat wrote: That voter challenge goes to “any justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals, or judge of the superior court in the proper county,” who, according to state statute, can potentially strip a candidate’s name from ballots prior to the election if they have a felony conviction. Like their counterparts elsewhere, Washington state Republicans have attacked the outcome of Trump’s hush money/election interference criminal trial, saying the guilty verdict on 34 felony counts does nothing to disqualify Trump from holding office as president, Westneat said. He concluded by writing: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/2/2244310/-Could-Washington-state-drop-Trump-from-the-ballot-under-a-law-barring-convicted-felons-Probably-not?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/