Law Professor Derek Muller has this interesting essay on ElectionLawBlog, making the case that states have the power to adjudicate presidential candidate qualifications and keep them off the ballot if the state feels they don’t meet the constitutional qualifications. However, he warns that state election officials only have the power to exclude if the state election law authorizes them to make such a decision.

The essay mentions ineligible presidential and vice-presidential candidates in U.S. history, most of them minor party nominees who were under age 35.

This subject is timely because of the discussion about former President Donald Trump and the insurrection language in the 14th amendment.

Nevada state law says major parties will hold presidential primaries on February 6, 2024. The Nevada Republican Party would rather use a caucus to select delegates, and has been in state court trying to stop the state from holding a Republican presidential primary. So far the party has not prevailed.

However, the party has another method to stop the Republican presidential primary. The law says no primary will be held unless there are at least two candidates from that party. The party intends to hold a caucus on the evening of Thursday, February 8. It has promulgated a rule saying any candidate who files for the presidential primary is ineligible to participate in the caucus. Because it is the caucus that actually assigns delegates, it is somewhat plausible that no Republican will file for the primary, and therefore the primary will be cancelled. See this story.

Here is a story about Virginia Senate Democratic Party candidate Trudy Berry, whose name may not be on the ballot in the 9th District in November 2023 due to an email address error that led to candidate paperwork not being filed on time. Ms. Berry is appealing to the Virginia Board of Elections for relief.

The Virginia Senate is composed of 40 single member districts, which are all elected in years immediately preceding Presidential elections. The Virginia House of Delegates is composed of 100 single member districts elected every odd numbered year. Virginia Governor, Lt. Governor (which are elected in separate elections), and Attorney General are elected in years immediately following a Presidential election.