Many individuals objecting to Donald Trump being removed from the ballot in Maine and Colorado say the issue should instead be “resolved by voters.”
They seem to assume that the only qualification for the office of president is the popularity of the candidate. That’s not how our system works.
The U.S. Constitution, in several places, spells out qualifications for holding the office of president. Arnold Schwarzenegger can’t be president because he isn’t a natural-born citizen. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can’t be president as she is not yet 35 years of age.
Barack Obama can’t be president again as he has already served two full terms. Any naturalborn citizen who hasn’t resided within the U.S. for 14 years can’t be president. Donald Trump can’t be president because he previously swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection.
The Constitution and Trump’s conduct, not “unelected judges” or some other boogeyman, are what disqualifies him from holding the office. Everyone equally bears consequences for their actions, the rule of law is another foundational aspect of our country. A common " pragmatic” objection is that some feel our country wouldn’t survive the Supreme Court upholding a Trump disqualification. I would remind them that not so long ago, our country survived a Supreme Court ruling in Bush v. Gore that picked a winner in the presidential race. A court decision of disqualification of one candidate from primary elections would be far less consequential, as it wouldn’t pick the final winner but would only limit voter choice to candidates qualified to hold the office.
— Robert Hall
Anchorage
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