North Dakotans Approve Age Limit for Members of Congress

gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works to politics @lemmy.world – 415 points –
North Dakotans Approve Age Limit for Members of Congress
nytimes.com

Surprisingly based from ND, to be completely honest

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TL;DR; they can't run if they would turn 81in the last year of their term.

The headline sounds nice but this law barely does anything to address the issue. Legislators also expect this law to be overturned so it's more of a vague gesture than it is an enforcable measure

It would disqualify the 2 major presidential candidates if it was applied nationally, as well as 50 sitting members of Congress (assuming they all wanted to run)

Does it at least set some kind of (small) precedent? I don't know of anywhere in the US that has an old-age restriction like this

(Setting aside for the moment that the constitution explicitly states that age is a factor in eligibility for office -- must be 35 to be president -- so why wouldn't age also be a factor at the other end?)

Age over 40 is a protected class, and it is discrimination against old people to block them from running. Congress updating the law or a new ammendment is required to meaningfully get term limits. The old people aren't going to do that.

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