The alarming effort to kick Marjorie Taylor Greene off the ballot

Preventing somebody from seeking office — and, effectively, depriving citizens of the ability to vote for a candidate they would otherwise want to — is a serious matter. There are certain requirements for running for office (age and residency requirements, getting enough signatures to meet whatever petition standards exist, and so forth), and it would be legitimate to keep somebody off the ballot for not meeting them. But what is happening with Greene is a different matter and would set a horrible precedent, in which somebody’s public statements can be used as a means to prevent that person from running for office.

Greene’s statements ahead of the January 6 riot may have been reckless, and they may even have egged on some of the rioters. But that is a far cry from somebody who actively tried to plan an insurrection, break into the Capitol, or engage in violence. And the threshold for preventing somebody from enjoying the right to run that they would otherwise have should be quite high.