General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Donald Trump is NOT eligible to run for President. Period. [View all]dpibel
(3,969 posts)Colorado and Maine have made the determination that Trump cannot be on their ballots because their state law (which unquestionably governs the conduct of elections) says that only people who are qualified to hold office can appear on ballots.
Your First Amendment argument is inapposite.
Any 22-year-old can engage in all the 1st Amendment protected activities you list insisting to all the world they should be elected president.
But they can't serve.
And states have the clear, established, unequivocal right to keep 22-year-olds off the presidential ballot.
The question here is not "can Trump run?" It is "Is Trump disqualified from serving as president under Article 3 of the 14th Amendment?"
I'm pretty confident that no court is going to rule that being on a ballot is a First Amendment Right.