Why Donald Trump can vote in the 2024 election even after his felony conviction

Although former President Donald Trump was convicted earlier this year in a Manhattan court of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, the Republican presidential nominee can still vote in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump cast his ballot Tuesday in Palm Beach County, along with his wife, Melania. 

Why can Donald Trump vote even though he was convicted of a felony?

While the state of Florida generally makes it challenging for people convicted of felonies to vote until they have served out their full sentence, Trump benefits from the fact that he was convicted outside of the state. 

Florida law specifies that people convicted outside of the state are subject to the voting laws of whichever state they were convicted in – New York, in this case. Trump can thank a 2021 New York state law for his voting privileges in this election, one that allows felons to vote if they are not currently incarcerated.

In Trump’s case, he was convicted in New York in May, but has yet to be sentenced. This makes him an eligible voter in the state of Florida.

He was originally scheduled to be sentenced in the case on Sept. 18, however his attorneys asked on Aug. 14 for his sentencing to be pushed back until after the presidential election. They argued a delay is necessary to resolve ongoing legal challenges to his conviction. 

In early September, Justice Juan Merchan issued an order delaying sentencing until Nov. 26, after the election.

Merchan wrote that he made the decision “to avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate.”

What felonies was Trump convicted of?

Trump was convicted in May by a unanimous jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records tied to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. Prosecutors stated that Trump signed off on a scheme to hide reimbursements to a lawyer who wired a $130,000 “hush money” payment to the adult film state just days before the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied the allegations and he pleaded not guilty. 

“A jury of 12 New Yorkers swiftly and unanimously convicted Donald Trump of 34 felony counts,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in early September after Trump was convicted.

Merchan has a broad range in determining Trump’s sentence. The charges carry a maximum sentence of up to four years in jail, but Merchan can also hand down a sentence that involves a variety of alternatives to incarceration, including probation. Most legal observers expect Trump to avoid jail time, given his status as a first-time offender and sentences handed down for the same crime in other cases.

Trump has denied all allegations in this case, as well as four other criminal cases, two of which revolve around his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and one, which was dismissed, where he was charged for taking confidential documents from the White House at the end of his presidency.

Where these go from here could very well depend on whether Trump is elected.