Donald Trump will still appear on Iowa’s general election ballot in November despite being convicted of 34 felonies in New York last week — despite a state law that disqualifies felons from holding office.
Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a crime when a jury found him guilty on May 30 of falsifying corporate records to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump plans to appeal the conviction.
At the federal level, nothing in the U.S. Constitution prevents Trump from running for president or holding office because of a crime.
Iowa law requires candidates for office to be aware that they will be disqualified from holding office if they have been convicted of a crime.
But the law likely cannot be enforced against candidates for federal office, including the presidency. While states can impose additional requirements on state and local candidates, they lack the authority to set standards for federal candidates that are stricter than those required by the U.S. Constitution.
“You can’t challenge someone for federal office because he’s a felon because that’s not one of the qualifications in the Constitution,” Derek Muller, an election law professor at the University of Notre Dame law school, previously told the Des Moines Register.
Iowa’s Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate pointed out in a statement the U.S. Constitution’s requirements that presidents must be natural-born citizens, be at least 35 years old and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years.
“The United States Constitution imposes requirements on those who wish to run for federal office, not state office,” Pate said in the statement. “The requirements, as set forth in the U.S. Constitution, do not include any disqualification based on criminal charges or convictions.”
Pate introduced a bill this year to remove a requirement in Iowa law that federal candidates certify that they have been disqualified from office if they have been convicted of a crime. The bill passed the Iowa House, but never received a vote in the Senate and did not become law.
Each political party is required to file a certificate with the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates with the office of the Iowa Secretary of State 81 days before the general election. Trump will formally receive the Republican nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18.
“As in the past, our office will accept in good faith the certifications from recognized political parties of their candidates for president and vice president,” Pate said in the statement.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared in the Des Moines Register: Trump could still appear on the Iowa ballot in November despite conviction
