Following his criminal conviction in New York, former president and likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump expressed concerns about what will happen next. Despite the ruling on May 30, there are still questions over Trump’s ability to run for president.
Trump ineligible to vote for himself this november
Following the decision, Florida state senator Jason Pizzo, a Democrat from Sunny Isles Beach, posted on X, “Trump can’t vote for himself in the November election.” “He can thank Florida Republicans for that.” A crowdsourced community remark provided a correction to Pizzo’s X article, stating what earlier legal experts had informed us: Trump would probably not lose his ability to vote. Trump’s eligibility to vote, according to a number of legal experts, depends on whether he is incarcerated on election day, according to the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit organization that defends voting rights. Trump is not permitted to cast a ballot for himself in November. For that, he may give credit to Florida Republicans. July 11 is when Trump is expected to be sentenced. Due to the fact that Trump has no prior convictions and the charge is a low-level, nonviolent crime, several legal experts have voiced doubt that he will get a jail sentence. Trump said, “We are going to be appealing this scam,” during a news conference held at Trump Tower in New York on May 31.
Former President Trump faces voting restriction
The appeals procedure is usually expected to last until Election Day. When we contacted Pizzo to get his reaction, he claimed citing Florida law that Trump would not be permitted to vote until all of the terms of his sentence had been satisfied. It turns out that when a conviction comes under another state’s jurisdiction, Florida submits to that state’s laws. Pizzo went on to say that despite his conviction appeal, Trump is still eligible to vote. Sen. Pizzo’s remarks are valid for someone convicted of a crime in Florida or in federal court, but Trump was found guilty in a New York state court, according to Blair Bowie, the Campaign Legal Center’s director of the Restore Your Vote program, who spoke with PolitiFact.Those convicted of murder and sexual offenses lose their ability to vote until their rights are restored by the State Clemency Board.
Trump barred from casting own ballot in election
But in New York, Trump was found guilty. And as stated by the State of Florida, “a felony conviction in another state makes a person ineligible to vote in Florida only if the conviction would make the person ineligible to vote in the state where the person was convicted.” In 2021, a legislation was established in New York that allows those convicted of felonies to regain their voting privileges after being released from prison. Voting rights are not revoked for felons until they are incarcerated and serving their sentences. As per Kathleen R. McGrath, a spokesman for the New York state Board of Elections, those whose jail sentences are stayed for appeal do not forfeit their ability to vote. It’s quite possible that Trump’s attorneys would move the appeals court to delay the sentence while the case is pending after the president is sentenced. That petition is granted in 99 percent of instances involving defendants in white-collar crimes, according to former local and federal prosecutor Evan Gotlob.
| Fact |
| It seems doubtful that Trump’s felony conviction in New York will keep him from casting a ballot in the 2024 election because he currently resides in Florida. |
| According to New York law, convicts’ ability to vote is only suspended while they are behind bars. Regardless of parole status, a person’s ability to vote is immediately reinstated upon release from jail. |
| Even in the event that Trump is sentenced to prison, the appeals process would probably allow him to remain in office beyond the 2024 election. |
| The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, may offer mercy to Trump in order to restore his voting rights, although DeSantis usually needs sentencing completion before filing for clemency. |
| The complex circumstances underlying Trump’s ability to vote are not fully reflected in the false information that is making the rounds on social media. |
November election: Trump can’t vote for himself
Thus, in order for the former president to be unable to cast a ballot, he would have to be imprisoned during the November election, according to Neil Volz, deputy director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which pushed for Florida’s 2018 constitutional amendment that reinstated the right to vote for felons. Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida and an authority on the denial of voting rights to those convicted of felonies, told PolitiFact that it seems highly unlikely that Trump will be removed from the voter rolls by November.
