Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

That is definitely a distinction. But "the Constitution does not say that" means very little in Constitutional law, I've discovered. Hell, people are still losing their minds over substantive due process.

You choose to focus on whether the requirement affects a voter's decision. That standard is one you made up completely (and it's not in the Constitution). My just-as-made-up standard focuses on whether the requirement constitutes a possible bar for citizens. Or, in other words, if such requirement actually runs afoul of the actual Constitutional text.

TM

Everything you say is fair. My focus, though, ties to a question of federalism. The President is the head of the federal government. If a state can impose a ballot-access requirement so long as it is not precluded by the Constitution, there's a lot that states can do to govern federal elections. I see that as inconsistent with the spirit of the Supremacy Clause, and generally problematic. I agree that what I am saying is not in the text of the Constitution itself, but I think I am arguing from a position of fidelity to important constitutional principles, and I don't see the important principle on the other side, unless it's something about states' rights.