The conviction of former President Donald J. Trump on Thursday is just the latest step in his legal odyssey in New York’s court system. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, set Mr. Trump’s sentencing for July 11, at which point he could be sentenced to as much as four years behind bars, or to probation.
It won’t stop him from running for president, though: There is no legal prohibition on felons doing that. No constitutional provision would stop him even from serving as president from a prison cell, though in practice that would trigger a crisis that courts would almost certainly have to resolve.
Voting — for himself, presumably — could be more complicated still. Mr. Trump is registered in Florida, which requires felons to complete their full sentence, including parole or probation, before regaining voting rights. With Election Day just months away, it seems unlikely that he could fulfill his sentence before then, whatever it is.
But if he is on probation come Election Day, a provision of Florida’s law might apply New York’s more lenient standards — which allow felons to vote on probation as long as they’re not in prison — because New York is where the conviction happened. The Florida secretary of state’s office did not respond to requests on Thursday to confirm Mr. Trump’s eligibility status. If he’s in prison, though, he would be disenfranchised in either state.
Mr. Trump will almost certainly appeal, after months of criticizing the case and attacking the Manhattan district attorney, who brought it, and Justice Merchan, who presided over his trial.