Secretary of State Natalie Tennant has been criticized for allowing Keith Judd to seek the Democrat Party nomination for president in last week's West Virginia primary election. Judd made national news by garnering nearly 43 percent of Democrats' votes, while President Barack Obama did only slightly better, at about 57 percent.
Judd is an inmate at a federal prison in Texas. It has been said even allowing him on the ballot was an embarrassment to West Virginia. Tennant should have rejected his candidacy, forcing him to file a lawsuit if he desired to force the matter, it has been suggested.
No. Tennant was right. The U.S. Constitution does not bar convicted felons from seeking the presidency. State officials who, for whatever reason, seek to circumvent its provisions open a Pandora's Box of unacceptable possibilities.
