“It would be up to the states, who conduct the elections and approve the candidates, to decide what they require to validate a candidate.”
That’s not what the constitution says. The 20th Amendment speaks of a President-elect possibly not qualifying, and the Vice President acting in his stead. Which implies that some process of qualification may occur once Congress counts the electoral votes and establishes a President-elect. The constitution is silent on whether the Courts or Congress might conduct that further qualification process. In my opinion the Supreme Court deserves severe censure for not taking the Philip Berg case in January and settling this matter in a timely fashion. Either Roberts or Alito refused to grant certiorari (most people guess Roberts), but the issue won’t go away, and the collateral issues have only gotten more severe. No matter what happens now, it’s a big mess.
My opinion is that everyone Should have a right and “standing” to demand upholding the constitution: Congress, the Courts, the Executive branch, and private citizens. Right now Joe Biden plus a majority of the Cabinet could invoke the 25th amendment and declare Obama ineligible. But that should not preclude private legal action, or Congressional action.
“Either Roberts or Alito refused to grant certiorari (most people guess Roberts),..”
It takes, at a minimum, FOUR justices to grant certiorari, not one. IIRC, two Justices DID bring eligibiity cases to the Court, to decide on certiorari, but never garnered the requisite four votes to hear the caes.
Lately the 0bama supporters seem to outnumber the conservatives on some of these threads. I think they’re afraid. Blood is in the water.