A jury is deliberating whether Donald Trump will become a convicted felon, prompting questions around what rights the former president would—and would not have—if he is convicted of falsifying business records in New York. (Update: Jury finds Trump guilty in hush-money trial.)
Former President Donald Trump makes remarks at the end of the day during his criminal trial at ... [+]
A Florida resident with a felony conviction in another state is only ineligible to vote in Florida “if the conviction would make the person ineligible to vote in the state where the person was convicted,” according to the Florida Division of Elections website—Trump has been a Florida resident since 2019.
So, if Trump were convicted in New York and unable to vote there, he would not be able to vote in Florida, but in New York, convicted felons only lose their voting rights while incarcerated, meaning—even if convicted—Trump would be able to vote as long as he doesn’t go to jail.
Trump faces a fine of up to $5,000 and up to four years in prison for each of the 34 felony counts he faces, but legal experts have generally said it’s unlikely he is sentenced to jail time—at least in part because of the “ripple effect” having a former president in jail would create.
Blair Bowie, an attorney at the Campaign Legal Center, told NBC News the only way Trump “wouldn’t be able to vote is if he is in prison on Election Day,” citing New York’s felon voting protocols.
If convicted, Trump could also appeal the case and ask for any potential prison sentence to be delayed during appeal, which could be a way of ensuring he could vote even if he faces jail time.
A conviction also wouldn’t prevent Trump from running for president as the only requirements, per the Constitution, are for presidential candidates to be at least 35 years old and natural-born citizens who have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years.
Trump could lose his right to own a firearm if convicted, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which says the federal Gun Control Act makes it unlawful for someone “convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” to possess firearms or ammunition.
Florida law prevents felons convicted in any state from serving on a jury until their civil rights are restored following completion of sentence and payment of all restitution or fees, meaning Trump would lose that right, at least temporarily.
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If convicted and reelected, Trump could not pardon himself in this case as a president only has pardoning power over federal criminal offenses. A president cannot grant pardons for state criminal offenses—like Trump’s Manhattan charges—or federal or state civil claims.
Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Marymount Law School and a former Biden administration senior policy adviser for democracy and voting rights, told PolitiFact that “it’s exceedingly unlikely that (Trump gets) sentenced to a term of imprisonment even if convicted, and so I think it’s exceedingly unlikely that he’s going to lose his voting rights based on anything that happens in NY.”
The jury in Trump’s New York hush money case began deliberations Wednesday after almost six weeks of testimony and arguments in the case. The jury is tasked with determining whether there’s proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified business records as a way to cover up efforts to “conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means.”
Trump’s New York hush money case was the first of his four criminal cases to go to trial—and is likely the only one in which he could face a conviction ahead of November’s election. He was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records having to do with reimbursement checks he made to his former attorney Michael Cohen after Cohen paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 ahead of the 2016 election, allegedly to prevent her from going public with her claims that she had an affair with Trump years prior. Trump pleaded not guilty and was regularly critical of the trial, calling it a witch hunt and election interference, as it has largely prevented him from campaigning outside of New York.