The fact of his eligibility for the Office of President is a Federal matter. Whether he goes on the ballots is a State matter. I have to admit, in all my readings of the text of the Constitution and the context around the drafting of the Amendments, never once have I seen anything banning a State from putting someone who can’t be President on their ballot.
Maybe the Framers thought there was no way a State government would be so stupid as to put an ineligible candidate on their ballots, but that if they wanted to waste their votes on that then they should be so allowed, God bless 'em.
This seems right to me. If he was a participant in an insurrection, he can’t hold the office of President. He can still be on ballots, he can still get votes in the electoral college, heck, he can still win, he just can’t be President. In my mind, it would kick over to his VP, same as if he died or otherwise became ineligible while in office.
The fact of his eligibility for the Office of President is a Federal matter. Whether he goes on the ballots is a State matter. I have to admit, in all my readings of the text of the Constitution and the context around the drafting of the Amendments, never once have I seen anything banning a State from putting someone who can’t be President on their ballot.
Maybe the Framers thought there was no way a State government would be so stupid as to put an ineligible candidate on their ballots, but that if they wanted to waste their votes on that then they should be so allowed, God bless 'em.
This seems right to me. If he was a participant in an insurrection, he can’t hold the office of President. He can still be on ballots, he can still get votes in the electoral college, heck, he can still win, he just can’t be President. In my mind, it would kick over to his VP, same as if he died or otherwise became ineligible while in office.