Running for office and voting are unrelated things with separate criteria. You can be president if you are a natural born citizen over 35 who has lived in the US for at least 14 years.
You might have been thinking that losing voting rights entails losing citizenship, but that is not the case.
I think the reasoning of the founding fathers was, that political imprisonment should not hinder the democratic process, otherwise someone running for office could be detained for something and be removed from the election when someone in a higher position does not want him/her to participate.
They should be the same, really. Democracy’s core principle is that people are equal. If you’re eligible to vote, you should be eligible to hold office.
Running for office and voting are unrelated things with separate criteria. You can be president if you are a natural born citizen over 35 who has lived in the US for at least 14 years.
You might have been thinking that losing voting rights entails losing citizenship, but that is not the case.
I’d say that the standards for holding office should be higher than the standards for voting for who holds said office.
I think the reasoning of the founding fathers was, that political imprisonment should not hinder the democratic process, otherwise someone running for office could be detained for something and be removed from the election when someone in a higher position does not want him/her to participate.
That’s fine, I agree.
But the law says otherwise. Just goes to show not all laws are just.
They should be the same, really. Democracy’s core principle is that people are equal. If you’re eligible to vote, you should be eligible to hold office.
I’m fine with felons voting, even from prison. I’m not fine with felons holding the highest office in the government.
I’m fine with someone convicted of having some drugs on them or getting an abortion in the holding the highest office.
Illegal is not a character judgement.
Agreed. But trying to overthrow democracy is a nono for me.
Well wake me up when America has a democracy to overthrow.