• Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Because if they couldn’t, elected officials would just have their opponents brought up on weak technical charges just to get them disqualfied.

      “Sir, you have been found guilty of jaywalking. As this is the third time you’ve been charged with this crime, that bumps it up to a felony under the ijustmadethisup act of 1793. The fine will be $50+ court costs. I also have to let you know that because you are a convicted felon, you are no longer allowed to run for office and have been removed from the ballot. Have a nice day.”

      Not quite that silly, but you get the idea.

      • blackbelt352@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Not quite that silly, but you get the idea.

        You joke but this bullshit tactic has been historically used to suppress voter’s rights for over a century. Charge someone with a bullshit felony and they lose their right to vote forever.

        • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Right, but I’m talking about running for office. Using this tactic to prevent people from running for office is an entirely different, and much bigger, can of worms.

        • hddsx@lemmy.ca
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          6 months ago

          You do realize Trump is kind of historic right? Imagine we went from Obama to Biden. Then, try to think of a single president who just went “I’m president so I can do what I want”

            • hddsx@lemmy.ca
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              6 months ago

              Okay, okay. Let’s dispense with the silly insults.

              Trump is historic because of his complete and utter disregard for the law - even Nixon knew when it was over. Trump has led about 30% of the populace to believe that election integrity was an issue - but only for the 2020 election. Beyond the general disregard for the common good that the Republicans previously celebrated, he has given them a direction for utter chaos.

              Regardless of if you like him or not, he is historic and will be remembered. One can only imagine that Smith will be equally remembered

    • PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      While everyone is right about the reasoning, no one brought up the relevant historical example: Eugene Debs in the 1920 Election… which is unfortunate because it’s a good one.

      Euegen Debs was a socialist candidate who ran in the 1920 elections after being jailed by Wilson’s Sedition Act of 1918 for opposing the US joining WW1 and the accompanying draft.

      • sanosuke001@lemmynsfw.com
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        6 months ago

        I was not familiar with this historical fact, thanks for the info! That’s definitely a good example of why it shouldn’t bar someone outright.

    • nova@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      Because if you’re able to invalidate your opponent’s candidacy for president, it makes a fascist takeover that much easier. Just change the laws so that any political opposition can’t run against you, and bam your party has indefinite control.

    • trevor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      6 months ago

      If felons can’t vote (they should be able to), they sure as shit shouldn’t be able to run for office.

        • hddsx@lemmy.ca
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          6 months ago

          Wait, why not?

          Edit: Oh, right. This isn’t the Honorable Judge Cannon. These are state felonies presided by a judge who understands the government functions

    • Peer@discuss.tchncs.de
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      6 months ago

      Because when voters feel the punishment was unjust, they can choose to ignore it. For example: Nelson Mandela.