Welcome to Brain Stuff, a production of IHeartRadio.

Hey, Brainstuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here.

In all but four states and territories in the U.S., having been convicted of a felony,

means that you can lose your right to vote in federal and local elections.

Sometimes until you're out of prison,

sometimes until you complete your full sentence,

including parole or probation,

and sometimes forever.

The laws that govern voting are decided by each state.

But national laws say that a convicted felon can run for the highest office in the country,

as is evidenced by Donald Trump's campaign following his conviction on 34 felony counts.

So how can this be?

The framers of the Constitution made it really hard to disqualify anyone from becoming president, and that's meant to be a

good thing. Okay, let's talk about federal laws. Federal laws and the consequences for breaking them

are written by Congress, but even Congress doesn't have the final word. A federal law that's been

on the books can still be

struck down by the Supreme Court if it's found to be in violation of the Constitution.

And it's the Constitution, Article 2, Section 1 Clause 5 specifically, that clearly lays out the

qualifications for the presidency. No person except a natural-born citizen or a citizen of the United States at the time of the

adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible to the office of president.

Neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall have not attained to the age of

35 years, and been 14 years of resident within the United States.

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