If you respect the Constitution, you must respect enforcement of the 14th Amendment  

There are some strange ideas floating around in politics.

Everyone at Sen. Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas) To the Governor. gavin newsome (D-Calif.) seems to think there's something ugly about invoking Section 14.^th An amendment that would remove Donald Trump from the presidential ballot and say the fate of his election should be left to the voters, not the courts. Even Mainsen. susan collins someone who voted to impeach a former president for his involvement in the events of January 6, 2021considers it undemocratic to keep him from voting.

This is a strange idea. Because these people don't think the same way about other constitutional provisions.

If former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to run for president, he won't be allowed to appear on the ballot.I don't think anyone would object to not letting him run. he wasn't born in america He said it was “undemocratic” and the decision should be left to voters.

And if Trump wins and wants to run for a third term, should we turn a blind eye to efforts to use policy to stop him? 22nd Amendment Does it limit presidents to two terms? Think carefully about your answer, and don't imagine for a second that President Trump isn't thinking of doing just that.

The constitution establishes certain qualifications for the office of president. If you take the oath of office and rebel, you are no more eligible to become president than if you were born a Canadian citizen, or if you are only 25 years old. It doesn't matter how popular you are or how “undemocratic” your supporters think it is to keep you from voting. You are simply unfit.

This idea of ​​choosing which parts of the Constitution to apply, or “constitutional a la carte,” is very dangerous. If you want to ignore some of the 14,^th They fixed it because Donald Trump is popular, so why stop there? Many people want to ignore the Second Amendment and introduce stricter gun control laws. Lately, the First Amendment has also had its critics.

The Constitution is a package deal. We all prefer some parts to others, but all parts should be respected equally. It is not illegal to use the Constitution to challenge overly restrictive gun or speech regulations, no matter how popular they are. Similarly, there is nothing undemocratic about ensuring that presidential candidates meet the constitutional requirements for office.

Anyone who respects the Constitution should fully support removing people from the ballot who do not meet these requirements.

As for the argument that keeping Donald Trump out of the vote is “undemocratic,” that's certainly true. But the Constitution covers a lot of things.Electoral system in California Electoral College votes 54 meanwhile Wyoming wins 3.The population of California is approximately 68 times larger That means a vote for president in Wyoming is worth 3.7 times more than a vote for president in California. The electoral system has its advantages, but democratic rigor is not among them.

But in another sense, the Electoral College is quintessentially democratic because these are the rules we agree to use to elect the president. These rules may not be perfect, and we can certainly insist on changing them, but until we do, our democracy needs to respect them.

Roughly half of voters will be swayed regardless of whether the courts decide President Trump is unfit under the 14th Amendment. But that doesn't mean everyone, including those who are upset, shouldn't respect the decision. Unless we take its words seriously, especially if we don't want to, the American Constitution is just a bunch of words written on parchment.

Chris Truax is a San Diego appellate attorney and member of the Democracy Guardrails Project.