If Trump is found guilty, will Americans still be able to vote for him? Experts weigh in
According to U.S. law experts, yes, former President Donald Trump can appear on the ballot even if found guilty in the current criminal hush money trial in New York—or the other criminal cases still pending.
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Paste BN spoke with law experts, including Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Paul Campos, Professor of Law at Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver Martin Katz, and Election Law Professor at the University of Colorado Doug Spencer. Each expert concluded that the U.S. Constitution and U.S. law do not prohibit a convicted criminal from becoming president.
Katz explained that the U.S. Constitution sets out a list of qualifications to become president: the person must be 35 years old, a natural-born citizen, and a resident of the United States for at least 14 years.
"So, a person can meet the qualifications on the Constitutional list even if they are a convicted felon. And the Constitutional list tends to be seen as exclusive," Katz said in an email to Paste BN.
Can states create requirements for presidential candidates?
Katz stated that if someone meets the qualifications on the Constitutional list, it is not likely that states could impose additional requirements to get on the ballot for President, such as not having a felony conviction, since the election is at a federal level.
In fact, the 1994 U.S. Supreme Court Case U.S. Term Limits versus Thornton decided that states cannot impose additional restrictions, such as term limits, on their representatives in the federal government beyond those provided by the Constitution.
Campos and Spencer also mentioned a specific case during World War I, in which a man named Eugene Debs ran for president despite his jail sentence.
"Socialist Eugene Debs was imprisoned at the time for publicly opposing the U.S. involvement in World War I, and he didn't win, but he got a couple million votes," Campos said. "It's one of those curious things. Can you hold office while in prison? Well, while it might pose logistical problems, there aren't any laws stopping anyone."
How will the hush money trial affect voting this year?
While, yes, there are no laws keeping someone convicted of a crime from appearing on the 2024 General Election ballot, Spencer asks voters, "Do you really want a felon running your country?"
Whether or not Trump is convicted in his current trial, he is still the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. And if the Republican National Convention chooses him as expected, voters will see his name on their Nov. 4 election ballots.
"If he's found guilty, voters in the country should take that into account when they make their vote. Voters should choose law-abiding citizens to run the country," Spencer said.