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Notes -
But these thing were not decided by the courts. Insurrection is a crime, in fact a very serious one. And given the very long history of presumed innocence, if you’re not convicted of a crime, you cannot be punished by the state for that crime. That’s not how presumption of innocence works. And the thing is that the states removing Trump from the ballot are doing so on the theory that being guilty of insurrection would disqualify Trump from the ballot. Again, not convicted of insurrection or inciting an insurrection or even inciting a riot. These are crimes with clear meaning in law that require the person be tried and convicted of.
I think it is reasonable to require candidates or at least parties to meet minimum standards to appear on the ballot. It’s reasonable to expect that a candidate for office has some minimum amount of support as measured by signatures. Provided this requirement is for all candidates and is reasonable and neutral, it’s not a problem.
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