![]() ![]() Mental acuity testing could be used for voters at the time of registration or at the polls, although absentee balloting and same day registration, as in Minnesota, could complicate the examination process. The senior’s competency program need not be confined to elected officials. The balloon turned out to consist of hot air and led nowhere … until now. Indeed, back in 2016, following some aberrant behavior by candidate Trump during the campaign, a trial balloon was floated in the media by at least one observer, me, for mental competency testing for presidential candidates. In addition to voter appeal, it may even have some merit, too, a pair of features that are not always synonyms. Legalisms aside, Haley’s acuity initiative for elderly candidates seems to have some popularity with the public, as Banks notes in pointing to a Fox News polls shortly after Haley jumped into the race three months ago reflecting 80% approval of the concept. citizenship, and a year of residence in the state while legislators in both state chambers must be 21, a qualified voter, and a state resident for a year. Incidentally, in Minnesota, the state constitution prescribes for governor and (lieutenant governor) a trio of requirements: 25 years of age, U.S. Trump prohibiting adding a new eligibility provision for president, public disclosure of tax returns. Thornton, as well as a California Supreme Court ruling in 2019 in Padilla v. Supreme Court barring state-prescribed term limits for members of the House in U.S. ![]() Those cases include a 1995 decision by the U.S. The courts have ruled that these Constitutional eligibility provisions are exclusive and may not be supplemented by other requirements. citizen for seven years, and a resident of the state, but not necessarily the district represented. citizenship, and residence in the state where elected while members of the House of Representatives can be younger, 25 years old, a U. Senators are, according to the Constitution, subject to three qualifications: 30 years of age (Biden was elected at age 29 in 1972, but turned 30 before being sworn in two months later), nine years of U. There conditions are three for the presidency (and vice presidency, too): 35 years of age, natural born citizenship, and 14 years residency in the country. The Constitution prescribes the exclusive requirements for elected federal office holders. The proposed mandate would require amending the Constitution for federal officeholders by majority vote in each chamber of Congress, where a number of codgers over or approaching the Haley threshold hold sway, and then approval by legislatures in 38 states, no easy feat, as reflected in the ongoing saga of the proposed 28th Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment, which has been lingering for 51 years and currently the subject of a pair of federal court lawsuits regarding belated rectifications by three states – and rescission by five others – after 35 states promptly approved it, including Minnesota, but then none did for decades. But the practical problems and political plot lines inherent in any cognitive or other testing proposition may make it a non-starter. Seeking to top his younger rival, a week after she entered the race with her call for competency exams, he proposed mental and physical testing of all presidential aspirants. The second oldest candidate for president, former President Trump, 25 years Haley’s senior, weighed-in with his own proposal. While the average age of members of the House of Representatives has been gradually descending, now at 58, the current Senate is the oldest ever, with an average age of slightly above 65 years old, including 23 of them who are 70 or older and seven above 80, headed by the ailing 89-year-old Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California and a much more spry 89-year-old Iowa Republican Charles Grassley not far behind among its senior set. ![]() Haley’s age-based testing comes at an opportune time. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |