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And I still contend that he will thumb his nose at it if he so chooses. And he will choose. And Americans will acquiesce.

It's possible that he might "thumb his nose at it" (and perhaps other candidates might, too...) -- but the beauty of this plan is that if a candidate does not follow the requirement of the law in that state, they cannot be on the ballot and they will not receive Electoral College Votes, as a result of not being on the ballot.

That makes it so that a candidate can't simply "ignore" it -- because ignoring it means "no name on the ballot" and "no Electoral College votes" from that state.

A candidate couldn't ignore it, without direct consequences to them -- but they might try to "challenge" it -- but then if they did that, it raises the stakes way high and also -- a court has to agree with the candidate. And since the states have control over what the requirements are for placing a name on the ballot, I don't see how a judge is going to agree with a candidate that he doesn't have to follow the explicit directions of that state law for placing his name on the ballot.

So, it takes not just "ignoring it" and "thumbing his nose" at it -- but also -- it takes the legal system getting involved and then a judge agreeing with a candidate that he does not have to follow that particular law. I can't see that one happening, in terms of that kind of state law and requirement for getting on the ballot.

I think it's a very good and effective solution that any candidate would have a very difficult time ignoring.

A candidate couldn't ignore it, without direct consequences to them -- but they might try to "challenge" it

Any challange will come not from the candidate himself but from voters arguing they are being disenfranchised. And they would have a valid point.

We could be treading into dangerous territory when we write reactionary laws that would limit who we can vote for to only those candidates who have been "pre-approved" by the State. This is no different than the style of "democracy" practiced in places like Iran. And if conservatives don't think such a law will come back and bite us in the tail, we need to think again.