What happens if a candidate goes off the rails a quarter-mile before getting to the station?
Fairchild is correct, but keep in mind also: there are no presidential candidates on the ballot; you can not vote for them directly. You vote for electors, who are “pledged” to cast ballots for a particular candidate. Once elected, they constitute the Electoral College which actually elects the next president. So, if a candidate is withdrawn from the race at a point where it is too late to remove his or her name from the ballot, or after the election but before the electors cast ballots (which is in their respective state capitals on on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, or December 15 this year), any electors pledged to that candidate can vote for someone else, presumably the replacement designated by the party. This is actually one of the arguments in favor of the much-maligned electoral system—it allows for the election to proceed in the event of the death or disability of the candidate, rather than having to change the ballots or face an ambiguous situation.
Fairchild is correct, but keep in mind also: there are no presidential candidates on the ballot; you can not vote for them directly. You vote for electors, who are “pledged” to cast ballots for a particular candidate. Once elected, they constitute the Electoral College which actually elects the next president. So, if a candidate is withdrawn from the race at a point where it is too late to remove his or her name from the ballot, or after the election but before the electors cast ballots (which is in their respective state capitals on on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, or December 15 this year), any electors pledged to that candidate can vote for someone else, presumably the replacement designated by the party. This is actually one of the arguments in favor of the much-maligned electoral system—it allows for the election to proceed in the event of the death or disability of the candidate, rather than having to change the ballots or face an ambiguous situation. T
To consider the next step, what happens if the president-elect goes off the rails, but is not medically incapacitated, 10 days before the inauguration i.e. after Congress has counted & ratified the EC ballots? It would be an improvement. HA! Try the veal. Any way to stop that person becoming the POTUS? Can the person show up and take the oath of office? Then this would apply: Amendment XXV [..] Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representa
You’re writing a book, right? This isn’t a purely hypothetical question that would violate the guidelines, right? What Fairchild and beagle say is correct (although we don’t actually have elector names on the ballot here; maybe it’s different in your state?). The ballot lists the Pres/VP combos, but we are technically voting for electors. FWIW, up until the early 1900s many states had their legislatures choose the actual electors. A month before the election it’s too late to put different candidate names on all the 50 state ballots. Some states actually had ballot deadlines that were technically before the actual party conventions. Assuming the electors did not want to vote for a deranged candidate (!) they would vote for someone else. Presumably the leaders of that party would choose and “suggest” someone for those electors to vote for, but legally they can vote for whoever they want.
Related Questions
- What happens if a candidate who is recruited from outside of the Public Service is invited to the matching process but does not receive an offer of employment?
- What happens if a candidate goes off the rails a quarter-mile before getting to the station?
- What happens if the candidate leaves after the guarantee period?
