Could Trump lose his right to vote in the 2024 presidential election? Maybe.
Former President Donald Trump wouldn't be prevented from returning to the White House even if the he gets convicted of a felony in any of his four criminal trials. But there's still a chance the presumptive Republican nominee's legal troubles could prevent him from casting a ballot for himself in the November general election.
While the U.S. Constitution doesn’t explicitly bar felons from serving as president, a number of states do restrict felons’ voting rights. In Florida, where Trump lives, a felon’s right to vote is determined by the rules in the state where they received the conviction.
Trump is facing 88 criminal charges across four cases — including the New York hush money trial that's set to move on Monday morning into oral arguments, as well as the Mar-a-lago classified documents case, the federal election interference case in the District of Columbia and the Georgia election interference case.
And the patchwork of criminal justice laws that govern when convicted criminals can vote in each place where the trials are being held raises questions over whether Trump could lose his right to vote based on the outcomes of the cases.
Austin Sarat, a professor at Amherst College who has studied felon disenfranchisement pointed to “the multi-jurisdictional quality” of Trump’s trials as making his situation “particularly complicated.”
But Sarat and other experts emphasized that Trump’s situation isn’t entirely out of the ordinary. Millions of Americans with felony convictions have lost their right to vote. And in states like Florida, where disenfranchisement laws are particularly complicated, many felons have trouble determining whether they can cast a ballot.
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Trump has opposed efforts to streamline these laws and restore rights to felons in the past, including in Florida.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment about how the ex-president's views have evolved on the issue since his felony charges, or about the actions he would take if he loses the right to vote.
Still, some advocates, including Neil Volz, deputy director of the Florida Rights Restitution Coalition, say they believe Trump’s trials could bring positive change on the issue.
"It's like the OJ trial meets NPR,” said Volz, who is a former felon now pushing for rights restoration. “What we are seeing is people being more educated on some of the challenges with the criminal justice system and being more open to talking about how we can do things different.”
As Trump faces the possibility of a felony conviction, here’s a look at how each of his trials could take away his right to vote.
New York hush money trial
The chances of Trump losing his voting rights in the New York case are slim.
The trial, which started with jury selection on April 15, is the first criminal trial in history of a former president. It alleges that Trump falsified business records to hide a hush money payment to an adult film star he made ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump faces 34 felony counts in the case and, if he is found guilty, legal experts have suggested that his sentence would fall somewhere between probation and four years in prison. The ex-president has pleaded not guilty and is also almost certain to appeal a conviction, a process that could keep him out of incarceration for months as he awaits a final judgment.
That leaves only a small chance that he’ll lose his vote for the 2024 election as a result of the case.
New York only removes a felon’s right to vote during the time that they are in prison. Felons who are living in the community remain eligible to participate in elections.
In other words, Trump would need to be incarcerated during the time of the November election to lose his right to vote because of actions related to the hush money trial. And a prison sentence for the ex-president could look different than it would for a normal person, considering the around-the-clock Secret Service protection he receives.
“If former President Trump gets a felony conviction, we will be in uncharted territory on these issues,” Volz said. “Some things would need to be litigated that have not been litigated before.”
Classified documents case
Trump could also lose his right to vote in the federal case over his handling of classified documents.
Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with violating the Espionage Act and conspiring to obstruct justice for knowingly retaining hundreds of classified national defense records.
The case will take place in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida – meaning, that if Trump is convicted, he’ll be subject to the Sunshine State’s felon disenfranchisement laws.
The trial was initially slated to begin on May 20, but challenges with managing access to the classified national security-related evidence in the case appear likely to postpone it. The prosecution proposed a start date of July 8, while Trump’s team suggested the trial begin on Aug. 12. If either of those timelines for the case holds, there’s a chance a verdict could come down before the November election.
Florida is among the handful of states that prevent felons from voting until they have completed their entire sentence — including probation and parole — and have paid off all fines.
Alex Saiz, legal director of the Florida Justice Center, suggested that if Trump is convicted in the classified documents case, and his sentence involves more than financial penalties, he’s likely to lose his voting rights.
But, just as with the New York case, Trump is all but likely to appeal a conviction. Whether he loses his voting rights will depend on when the appeal is made. Saiz suggested that if sentencing is postponed because of an appeal, Trump would retain his right to vote.
Election interference cases
Trump faces four felony counts in Washington, D.C. for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election in a federal case brought by Smith, as well as 10 counts in a Georgia case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Trial dates have not been set for either case, though it's possible the D.C. proceedings get put onto the calendar in the late summer or early fall depending on the timing and outcome of a critical Supreme Court ruling on whether the former president is immune from criminal prosecution. Oral arguments in the Supreme Court case are scheduled for Thursday.
In Georgia, Willis has said she's ready to bring her case against Trump and his co-defendants to trial well before Election Day 2024. But an appeal is underway on whether the district attorney should be disqualified from the case that a defense lawyer told USA Today might push the trial back until well past the November election. The judge overseeing the case hasn't yet put a trial start date on the calendar.
Should Trump get convicted and sentenced to time served in the Georgia case before the election, he would lose his right to vote. Felons in the state are disenfranchised until they fulfill their sentence, including time in prison and on probation or parole.
Trump's eligibility to vote based on a conviction in the federal election interference case would follow Florida law.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Trump's criminal trials could impact his right to vote in 2024