The false claim that Trump’s felony conviction bars him from the Texas ballot

Former President Donald Trump’s felony convictions have led to a lot of questions about what he can and can’t do with a criminal record. He will likely be able to vote in November. He can’t possess firearms. He can run for president. 

A June 8 Threads post said Trump’s conviction means he can’t appear on the ballot in the red state of Texas, an important state for the Republican candidate because it delivers 40 electoral college votes. 

"Trump can’t be on the Texas ballot because of our state constitution," the post said. It appeared about one week after a Manhattan jury convicted Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

The post continued: "The United States Constitution does not prohibit felons from holding elected federal office. However, various federal statutes provide that a conviction may result in loss of or ineligibility for office. Texas law prohibits any person convicted of a felony from being a candidate for public office or holding any public office position. A full pardon restores eligibility to run for office."

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The post wrongly states that Texas’ constitution would knock Trump off the ballot. 

"The qualifications of federal office are outlined by the U.S. Constitution, not the Texas Constitution," Alicia Phillips Pierce, a spokesperson for Texas’ secretary of state, told PolitiFact in an email. 

The Texas secretary of state’s website lists the qualifications for the presidency and does not  mention criminal history. That’s because it wouldn’t disqualify a candidate from running for the presidency.

The U.S. Constitution upholds the principle that voters decide who should represent them, and its qualifications are limited to natural-born citizenship, age (35 by Inauguration Day) and residency in the United States (14 years).

Texas election code prohibits anyone who is "finally convicted of a felony" from running for office in the state, but that doesn’t cover the U.S. presidency, which is a federal office, said Mimi Marziani, an adjunct professor at University of Texas at Austin law school who has taught constitutional law.

"It does mean that if Trump were finally convicted — after his appeals, etc. — that he would be ineligible to run for, say, Texas Governor," said Marziani, a lawyer in private practice and former president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, a nonprofit group advocating for voting rights. 

Texas election code states that a political party is entitled to have the names of its nominees for president and vice president on the ballot as long as those nominees meet the qualifications "prescribed by federal law."

Andy Taylor, an election lawyer in Texas who has represented many Texas Republicans, agreed that the claim that Trump’s felony conviction bars him from the ballot is wrong. 

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Donald Trump

stated on October 7, 2024 in an interview with Hugh Hewitt

Of Gaza, “I’ve been there.”

"Trump can and will be on the ballot in Texas," Taylor said.

People convicted of felonies have run for president in the past. Lyndon LaRouche was convicted in 1988 of tax and mail fraud conspiracy and ran for president multiple times from 1976 to 2004. Eugene Debs was convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 for an anti-war speech, then ran for president under the Socialist Party banner from a federal prison in Alabama in 1920. 

Trump faces sentencing July 11. It is unknown whether he will receive jail time.

A Threads post said, "Trump can’t be on the Texas ballot because of our state constitution."

The U.S. Constitution does not state that felony convictions bar someone from running for president, and the federal framework supersedes any state rules on whether someone can run for president. 

The state constitution can establish requirements only to run for state office, not a federal office such as president. 

We rate this statement False.

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