What would happen if an imprisoned felon won the presidency?

Ladewig · 12th August 2012, 03:45 PM

I am not talking about Obama or Romney.

Leonard Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences in a federal prison and ran for president in 2004. Other incarcerated felons have made attempts to run for president.

What would happen if someone in prison won the presidency?

BenBurch · 12th August 2012, 03:53 PM

And what would happen if a SNAIL was elected POPE?

Mashuna · 12th August 2012, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by BenBurch

And what would happen if a SNAIL was elected POPE?

It happened in 1576. Crushed by the mitre.

Robrob · 12th August 2012, 04:08 PM

If frogs had wings they wouldn't bump their ass.

C_Felix · 12th August 2012, 04:11 PM

I think this is when the electoral college steps in and doesn't pledge their votes to the felon.

BenBurch · 12th August 2012, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by Mashuna

It happened in 1576. Crushed by the mitre.

So he was a mitre-been?

mhaze · 12th August 2012, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by Ladewig

I am not talking about Obama or Romney.

Leonard Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences in a federal prison and ran for president in 2004. Other incarcerated felons have made attempts to run for president.

What would happen if someone in prison won the presidency?

He'd have to issue himself a pardon, so that he could go to his new home in the District of Criminals.

Ryokan · 12th August 2012, 04:47 PM

Ex-convicts have been presidents in other parts of the world, though..

MattusMaximus · 12th August 2012, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by Ladewig

I am not talking about Obama or Romney.

Leonard Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences in a federal prison and ran for president in 2004. Other incarcerated felons have made attempts to run for president.

What would happen if someone in prison won the presidency?

This could have been a much more fun thread if you had asked: "What would happen if a criminal won the presidency?"

Just sayin'

Brainster · 12th August 2012, 06:47 PM

James Michael Curley was elected to two separate offices (including Mayor of Boston), while incarcerated.

True story: Around 1964, my uncle, who is also named James Michael Curley (but no relation to the pol) graduated from Boston College. When they announced his name, the crowd let out a tremendous roar. I was thrilled to hear so many people liked my uncle; it wasn't until years later that I found out the real reason for the applause.

Bob001 · 12th August 2012, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by C_Felix

I think this is when the electoral college steps in and doesn't pledge their votes to the felon.

This is actually an interesting side question. Are electors legally required -- meaning they can't do anything else -- to cast their votes as prescribed by their state's election results, or could they exercise independent judgment? Suppose some terrible scandal was revealed about the winner after the national election but before the electors met? Could they say, "Not this guy, no way?" Or could, say, Donald Trump promise $10 million for each elector's vote if a majority named him president? Or could electors conspire, maybe by dividing their votes among several candidates, to throw the election into the House? What can electors actually do?

angrysoba · 12th August 2012, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by Bob001

This is actually an interesting side question. Are electors legally required -- meaning they can't do anything else -- to cast their votes as prescribed by their state's election results, or could they exercise independent judgment? Suppose some terrible scandal was revealed about the winner after the national election but before the electors met? Could they say, "Not this guy, no way?" Or could, say, Donald Trump promise $10 million for each elector's vote if a majority named him president? Or could electors conspire, maybe by dividing their votes among several candidates, to throw the election into the House? What can electors actually do?

Depends on the state, if I understand correctly.

Denver · 12th August 2012, 08:12 PM

Originally Posted by Bob001

This is actually an interesting side question. Are electors legally required -- meaning they can't do anything else -- to cast their votes as prescribed by their state's election results, or could they exercise independent judgment? Suppose some terrible scandal was revealed about the winner after the national election but before the electors met? Could they say, "Not this guy, no way?" Or could, say, Donald Trump promise $10 million for each elector's vote if a majority named him president? Or could electors conspire, maybe by dividing their votes among several candidates, to throw the election into the House? What can electors actually do?

According to wikipedia entry on Electoral College (United States)^WP (with cites):

Quote:

Electors are free to vote for anyone eligible to be President, but in practice pledge to vote for specific candidates and voters cast ballots for favored presidential and vice presidential candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors.

ETA: Also check out the section there on Faithless Electors:

Quote:

A faithless elector is one who casts an electoral vote for someone other than the person pledged or does not vote for any person. 24 states have laws to punish faithless electors. In 1952, the constitutionality of state pledge laws was brought before the Supreme Court in Ray v. Blair, 343 U.S. 214 (1952). The Court ruled in favor of state laws requiring electors to pledge to vote for the winning candidate, as well as removing electors who refuse to pledge.

Cleon · 12th August 2012, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by BenBurch

And what would happen if a SNAIL was elected POPE?

It would still be one of the less bizarre Papal succession stories...

psionl0 · 12th August 2012, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by MattusMaximus

This could have been a much more fun thread if you had asked: "What would happen if a criminal won the presidency?"

An even more interesting question would be, "What would happen if an honest person won the presidency?"

tyr_13 · 12th August 2012, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by psionl0

An even more interesting question would be, "What would happen if an honest person won the presidency?"

They'd probably not be able to get much done, expecting the opposition to conduct themselves in good faith and being completely wrong. They'd have a very hard time twisting the public to what needs done because they wouldn't play to blind ideology or sugar coat it.

Depending on what you mean by 'honest person' I find it less plausible than electing an imprisoned felon.

fuelair · 12th August 2012, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by BenBurch

And what would happen if a SNAIL was elected POPE?

A big improvement in the church?

psionl0 · 12th August 2012, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by tyr_13

Depending on what you mean by 'honest person' I find it less plausible than electing an imprisoned felon.

I guess you are right. The question is too hypothetical to waste much time over.

Brainster · 12th August 2012, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by Bob001

This is actually an interesting side question. Are electors legally required -- meaning they can't do anything else -- to cast their votes as prescribed by their state's election results, or could they exercise independent judgment? Suppose some terrible scandal was revealed about the winner after the national election but before the electors met? Could they say, "Not this guy, no way?" Or could, say, Donald Trump promise $10 million for each elector's vote if a majority named him president? Or could electors conspire, maybe by dividing their votes among several candidates, to throw the election into the House? What can electors actually do?

Faithless electors have happened in the past, as recently as 2004, when one idiot actually wrote "John Ewards" instead of Kerry on his ballot.

DevilsAdvocate · 12th August 2012, 10:05 PM

Somebody who knows more about government than I do could answer the question better, if they were to take the question seriously. But I would hazard a guess that the President would be deemed incapable of fulfilling the duties of the office of the President (and I don’t know exactly what that would take; probably a vote by Congress) and then the Vice-President would assume the duties of President until such time as the President was released. The Vice-President may pardon the President. Or the Senate may be able to impeach the President and remove him from office.

It would depend a lot on the circumstances. I would expect there would be legal battles because it has never happened before and is never expected to happen. The courts would have to sort it out. It would probably end up a Supreme Court case.

But strange things have happened. There was a case in 2000 where a dead man was elected to the Senate in Missouri. He was the governor of the state. He died about three weeks before the election,. Under Missouri state law, the lieutenant-governor became governor, and if the dead governor was elected it would be up to the lieutenant-governor (now governor) to appoint the Senate seat. He vowed to appoint the dead guy’s wife if that happened. The dead governor won the election and the new governor appointed his wife to the Senate seat.

sarge · 13th August 2012, 06:29 AM

I do not believe an imprisoned felon would be eligible for office. A Presidential candidate must get on a ballot in every State (or at least enough states to carry the general election). While anyone can announce they are running, a candidate doesn't get a vote if they aren't on the ballot or eligible as a write in.

Aside from the probablity that an incarcerated felon would not be eligible, there remains too many hurdles to election to make a successful campaign even remotely likely. It is so unlikely that it is safe to call it impossible.

Overcome the functionally impossible and actually win the election AND have the state electors actually cast for the felon, and he would be deemed unfit by his Cabinet or impeached by Congress.

Spindrift · 13th August 2012, 06:41 AM

Originally Posted by sarge

I do not believe an imprisoned felon would be eligible for office. A Presidential candidate must get on a ballot in every State (or at least enough states to carry the general election). While anyone can announce they are running, a candidate doesn't get a vote if they aren't on the ballot or eligible as a write in.

Aside from the probablity that an incarcerated felon would not be eligible, there remains too many hurdles to election to make a successful campaign even remotely likely. It is so unlikely that it is safe to call it impossible.

There is nothing that technically makes an imprisoned felon ineligible. Also a presidential candidate doesn't have to be on every state ballot, just enough state ballots to win.

If it did happen, the biggest issue would be: Could the FAA handle all the porcine air traffic?

MattusMaximus · 13th August 2012, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by Brainster

James Michael Curley was elected to two separate offices (including Mayor of Boston), while incarcerated.

True story: Around 1964, my uncle, who is also named James Michael Curley (but no relation to the pol) graduated from Boston College. When they announced his name, the crowd let out a tremendous roar. I was thrilled to hear so many people liked my uncle; it wasn't until years later that I found out the real reason for the applause.

Very funny

Crossbow · 20th August 2012, 05:39 AM

Originally Posted by Ladewig

I am not talking about Obama or Romney.

Leonard Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences in a federal prison and ran for president in 2004. Other incarcerated felons have made attempts to run for president.

What would happen if someone in prison won the presidency?

I do not think that such a thing could happen.

To explain, the candidate eligibility requirements state that the person running for office has to be a registered voter. And since an imprisoned felon is not a registered voter, then his, or her, name would be excluded from the election process (even as a 'write-in').

By the way, anyone can say that they are running for president, however it takes a good bit more than that in order to actually become the president.

P.S.: Happy birthday JREF!

aggle-rithm · 20th August 2012, 06:06 AM

When I was attending the University of Texas, the hallucination of a fictional comic strip character was elected student government president.

Since a hallucination can't hold office, they simply held a runoff election between the second and third place finishers.

It apparently wasn't the first time something like this happened. In a previous election, a dog won the presidency.

aggle-rithm · 20th August 2012, 06:11 AM

Originally Posted by Spindrift

There is nothing that technically makes an imprisoned felon ineligible.

Hey, as long as he wasn't born in Kenya. That's a deal-breaker, right there.

jj · 20th August 2012, 12:03 PM

Well, did one of the current candidates lie to one or the other of the SEC or Election Commision?

I Ratant · 21st August 2012, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by psionl0

An even more interesting question would be, "What would happen if an honest person won the presidency?"

.
Honest people are too busy working for a living to go swimming in the sewer of professional politics.

chulbert · 21st August 2012, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by Crossbow

I do not think that such a thing could happen.

To explain, the candidate eligibility requirements state that the person running for office has to be a registered voter. And since an imprisoned felon is not a registered voter, then his, or her, name would be excluded from the election process (even as a 'write-in').

As best I can determine, you can throw all the primaries, ballots, candidates and popular votes out the window because all that matters is the Electoral College vote. So the real question is, "Can the Electoral College vote for anyone they want?" It appears they can. While many states have "faithless elector" laws to punish such individuals they are not prohibited from doing so by federal law.

Multivac · 29th August 2012, 07:43 AM

Originally Posted by BenBurch

So he was a mitre-been?

That is a terrible pun, but it made me laugh! Thankyou!

12th August 2012, 03:45 PM	#1
Ladewig Hipster alien Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: not measurable Posts: 16,798	What would happen if an imprisoned felon won the presidency? I am not talking about Obama or Romney. Leonard Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences in a federal prison and ran for president in 2004. Other incarcerated felons have made attempts to run for president. What would happen if someone in prison won the presidency?
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12th August 2012, 03:53 PM	#2
BenBurch Gatekeeper of The Left Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: The Universe 35.2 ms ahead of this one. Posts: 32,107	And what would happen if a SNAIL was elected POPE?
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12th August 2012, 04:08 PM	#4
Robrob Illuminator Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 3,660	If frogs had wings they wouldn't bump their ass.
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12th August 2012, 04:11 PM	#5
C_Felix Graduate Poster Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Right outside Raleigh, NC Posts: 1,041	I think this is when the electoral college steps in and doesn't pledge their votes to the felon.
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12th August 2012, 04:15 PM	#6
BenBurch Gatekeeper of The Left Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: The Universe 35.2 ms ahead of this one. Posts: 32,107	Originally Posted by Mashuna It happened in 1576. Crushed by the mitre. So he was a mitre-been?
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12th August 2012, 04:01 PM	#3
Mashuna Ovis ex Machina Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Welsh Wales Posts: 6,578	Originally Posted by BenBurch And what would happen if a SNAIL was elected POPE? It happened in 1576. Crushed by the mitre.

12th August 2012, 04:42 PM	#7
mhaze Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woo*(+-1.10)^20=AGWwoo Posts: 15,384	Originally Posted by Ladewig I am not talking about Obama or Romney. Leonard Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences in a federal prison and ran for president in 2004. Other incarcerated felons have made attempts to run for president. What would happen if someone in prison won the presidency? He'd have to issue himself a pardon, so that he could go to his new home in the District of Criminals.
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12th August 2012, 04:47 PM	#8
Ryokan Insert something funny here Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 8,171	Ex-convicts have been presidents in other parts of the world, though..

12th August 2012, 05:50 PM	#9
MattusMaximus Intellectual Gladiator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the midst of a vast, beautiful & uncaring universe Posts: 14,175	Originally Posted by Ladewig I am not talking about Obama or Romney. Leonard Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences in a federal prison and ran for president in 2004. Other incarcerated felons have made attempts to run for president. What would happen if someone in prison won the presidency? This could have been a much more fun thread if you had asked: "What would happen if a criminal won the presidency?" Just sayin'
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12th August 2012, 06:47 PM	#10
Brainster Penultimate Amazing Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 10,420	James Michael Curley was elected to two separate offices (including Mayor of Boston), while incarcerated. True story: Around 1964, my uncle, who is also named James Michael Curley (but no relation to the pol) graduated from Boston College. When they announced his name, the crowd let out a tremendous roar. I was thrilled to hear so many people liked my uncle; it wasn't until years later that I found out the real reason for the applause.
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12th August 2012, 08:06 PM	#11
Bob001 Muse Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 882	Originally Posted by C_Felix I think this is when the electoral college steps in and doesn't pledge their votes to the felon. This is actually an interesting side question. Are electors legally required -- meaning they can't do anything else -- to cast their votes as prescribed by their state's election results, or could they exercise independent judgment? Suppose some terrible scandal was revealed about the winner after the national election but before the electors met? Could they say, "Not this guy, no way?" Or could, say, Donald Trump promise $10 million for each elector's vote if a majority named him president? Or could electors conspire, maybe by dividing their votes among several candidates, to throw the election into the House? What can electors actually do?
Bob001 Muse Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 882

12th August 2012, 08:09 PM	#12
angrysoba Philosopher Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Osaka, Japan Posts: 8,509	Originally Posted by Bob001 This is actually an interesting side question. Are electors legally required -- meaning they can't do anything else -- to cast their votes as prescribed by their state's election results, or could they exercise independent judgment? Suppose some terrible scandal was revealed about the winner after the national election but before the electors met? Could they say, "Not this guy, no way?" Or could, say, Donald Trump promise $10 million for each elector's vote if a majority named him president? Or could electors conspire, maybe by dividing their votes among several candidates, to throw the election into the House? What can electors actually do? Depends on the state, if I understand correctly.

12th August 2012, 08:12 PM	#13
Denver Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 6,599	Originally Posted by Bob001 This is actually an interesting side question. Are electors legally required -- meaning they can't do anything else -- to cast their votes as prescribed by their state's election results, or could they exercise independent judgment? Suppose some terrible scandal was revealed about the winner after the national election but before the electors met? Could they say, "Not this guy, no way?" Or could, say, Donald Trump promise $10 million for each elector's vote if a majority named him president? Or could electors conspire, maybe by dividing their votes among several candidates, to throw the election into the House? What can electors actually do? According to wikipedia entry on Electoral College (United States)^WP (with cites): Quote: Electors are free to vote for anyone eligible to be President, but in practice pledge to vote for specific candidates and voters cast ballots for favored presidential and vice presidential candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors. ETA: Also check out the section there on Faithless Electors: Quote: A faithless elector is one who casts an electoral vote for someone other than the person pledged or does not vote for any person. 24 states have laws to punish faithless electors. In 1952, the constitutionality of state pledge laws was brought before the Supreme Court in Ray v. Blair, 343 U.S. 214 (1952). The Court ruled in favor of state laws requiring electors to pledge to vote for the winning candidate, as well as removing electors who refuse to pledge.
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12th August 2012, 08:18 PM	#14
Cleon King of the Pod People Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 20,510	Originally Posted by BenBurch And what would happen if a SNAIL was elected POPE? It would still be one of the less bizarre Papal succession stories...
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12th August 2012, 08:20 PM	#15
psionl0 Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: 31°58'S 115°57'E Posts: 4,766	Originally Posted by MattusMaximus This could have been a much more fun thread if you had asked: "What would happen if a criminal won the presidency?" An even more interesting question would be, "What would happen if an honest person won the presidency?"

12th August 2012, 08:28 PM	#16
tyr_13 Philosopher Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Falconer, NY Posts: 9,657	Originally Posted by psionl0 An even more interesting question would be, "What would happen if an honest person won the presidency?" They'd probably not be able to get much done, expecting the opposition to conduct themselves in good faith and being completely wrong. They'd have a very hard time twisting the public to what needs done because they wouldn't play to blind ideology or sugar coat it. Depending on what you mean by 'honest person' I find it less plausible than electing an imprisoned felon.
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12th August 2012, 08:34 PM	#17
fuelair Cythraul Enfys Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 28,911	Originally Posted by BenBurch And what would happen if a SNAIL was elected POPE? A big improvement in the church?
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12th August 2012, 08:36 PM	#18
psionl0 Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: 31°58'S 115°57'E Posts: 4,766	Originally Posted by tyr_13 Depending on what you mean by 'honest person' I find it less plausible than electing an imprisoned felon. I guess you are right. The question is too hypothetical to waste much time over.

12th August 2012, 09:33 PM	#19
Brainster Penultimate Amazing Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 10,420	Originally Posted by Bob001 This is actually an interesting side question. Are electors legally required -- meaning they can't do anything else -- to cast their votes as prescribed by their state's election results, or could they exercise independent judgment? Suppose some terrible scandal was revealed about the winner after the national election but before the electors met? Could they say, "Not this guy, no way?" Or could, say, Donald Trump promise $10 million for each elector's vote if a majority named him president? Or could electors conspire, maybe by dividing their votes among several candidates, to throw the election into the House? What can electors actually do? Faithless electors have happened in the past, as recently as 2004, when one idiot actually wrote "John Ewards" instead of Kerry on his ballot.
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12th August 2012, 10:05 PM	#20
DevilsAdvocate Illuminator Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 3,643	Somebody who knows more about government than I do could answer the question better, if they were to take the question seriously. But I would hazard a guess that the President would be deemed incapable of fulfilling the duties of the office of the President (and I don’t know exactly what that would take; probably a vote by Congress) and then the Vice-President would assume the duties of President until such time as the President was released. The Vice-President may pardon the President. Or the Senate may be able to impeach the President and remove him from office. It would depend a lot on the circumstances. I would expect there would be legal battles because it has never happened before and is never expected to happen. The courts would have to sort it out. It would probably end up a Supreme Court case. But strange things have happened. There was a case in 2000 where a dead man was elected to the Senate in Missouri. He was the governor of the state. He died about three weeks before the election,. Under Missouri state law, the lieutenant-governor became governor, and if the dead governor was elected it would be up to the lieutenant-governor (now governor) to appoint the Senate seat. He vowed to appoint the dead guy’s wife if that happened. The dead governor won the election and the new governor appointed his wife to the Senate seat.
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13th August 2012, 06:29 AM	#21
sarge Master Poster Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 2,331	I do not believe an imprisoned felon would be eligible for office. A Presidential candidate must get on a ballot in every State (or at least enough states to carry the general election). While anyone can announce they are running, a candidate doesn't get a vote if they aren't on the ballot or eligible as a write in. Aside from the probablity that an incarcerated felon would not be eligible, there remains too many hurdles to election to make a successful campaign even remotely likely. It is so unlikely that it is safe to call it impossible. Overcome the functionally impossible and actually win the election AND have the state electors actually cast for the felon, and he would be deemed unfit by his Cabinet or impeached by Congress.
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13th August 2012, 06:41 AM	#22
Spindrift Enturbulator Extraordinaire Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Right here! Posts: 8,447	Originally Posted by sarge I do not believe an imprisoned felon would be eligible for office. A Presidential candidate must get on a ballot in every State (or at least enough states to carry the general election). While anyone can announce they are running, a candidate doesn't get a vote if they aren't on the ballot or eligible as a write in. Aside from the probablity that an incarcerated felon would not be eligible, there remains too many hurdles to election to make a successful campaign even remotely likely. It is so unlikely that it is safe to call it impossible. There is nothing that technically makes an imprisoned felon ineligible. Also a presidential candidate doesn't have to be on every state ballot, just enough state ballots to win. If it did happen, the biggest issue would be: Could the FAA handle all the porcine air traffic?
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13th August 2012, 06:26 PM	#23
MattusMaximus Intellectual Gladiator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the midst of a vast, beautiful & uncaring universe Posts: 14,175	Originally Posted by Brainster James Michael Curley was elected to two separate offices (including Mayor of Boston), while incarcerated. True story: Around 1964, my uncle, who is also named James Michael Curley (but no relation to the pol) graduated from Boston College. When they announced his name, the crowd let out a tremendous roar. I was thrilled to hear so many people liked my uncle; it wasn't until years later that I found out the real reason for the applause. Very funny
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20th August 2012, 05:39 AM	#24
Crossbow Seeking Honesty and Sanity Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 6,293	Originally Posted by Ladewig I am not talking about Obama or Romney. Leonard Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences in a federal prison and ran for president in 2004. Other incarcerated felons have made attempts to run for president. What would happen if someone in prison won the presidency? I do not think that such a thing could happen. To explain, the candidate eligibility requirements state that the person running for office has to be a registered voter. And since an imprisoned felon is not a registered voter, then his, or her, name would be excluded from the election process (even as a 'write-in'). By the way, anyone can say that they are running for president, however it takes a good bit more than that in order to actually become the president. P.S.: Happy birthday JREF!
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20th August 2012, 06:06 AM	#25
aggle-rithm Ardent Formulist Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 14,149	When I was attending the University of Texas, the hallucination of a fictional comic strip character was elected student government president. Since a hallucination can't hold office, they simply held a runoff election between the second and third place finishers. It apparently wasn't the first time something like this happened. In a previous election, a dog won the presidency.
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20th August 2012, 06:11 AM	#26
aggle-rithm Ardent Formulist Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 14,149	Originally Posted by Spindrift There is nothing that technically makes an imprisoned felon ineligible. Hey, as long as he wasn't born in Kenya. That's a deal-breaker, right there.
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20th August 2012, 12:03 PM	#27
jj grumpy old skeptic Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Deep in the rain Posts: 18,503	Well, did one of the current candidates lie to one or the other of the SEC or Election Commision?
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21st August 2012, 09:31 AM	#28
I Ratant Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 15,305	Originally Posted by psionl0 An even more interesting question would be, "What would happen if an honest person won the presidency?" . Honest people are too busy working for a living to go swimming in the sewer of professional politics.

21st August 2012, 11:00 AM	#29
chulbert Muse Join Date: May 2002 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 725	Originally Posted by Crossbow I do not think that such a thing could happen. To explain, the candidate eligibility requirements state that the person running for office has to be a registered voter. And since an imprisoned felon is not a registered voter, then his, or her, name would be excluded from the election process (even as a 'write-in'). As best I can determine, you can throw all the primaries, ballots, candidates and popular votes out the window because all that matters is the Electoral College vote. So the real question is, "Can the Electoral College vote for anyone they want?" It appears they can. While many states have "faithless elector" laws to punish such individuals they are not prohibited from doing so by federal law.

29th August 2012, 07:43 AM	#30
Multivac Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 1,927	Originally Posted by BenBurch So he was a mitre-been? That is a terrible pun, but it made me laugh! Thankyou!