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A few weeks before the presidential election, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, contracted the Corona virus and a laboratory test confirmed that he had Covid-19.
This raises a series of questions about what will happen next, and who will run the presidency if the illness worsens it.
What are the activities scheduled in your electoral campaign that the president will not be able to attend?
President Trump must enter the self-quarantine stage for ten days after receiving the test result confirming his infection with Covid on October 1, but can still participate in the second presidential debate scheduled for the 15th of this month, then to recover from illness.
His election campaign canceled a rally to be held in Florida, as well as a videoconference meeting of elderly figures who may be at risk of infection.
Trump has a series of rallies scheduled during that period, which he must now cancel or postpone.
What are the circumstances that could lead to the postponement of the elections?
The period of self-isolation that President Trump has entered has no clear effect on his ability to mobilize his campaign.
But the question that arises here is: Can the election date be delayed? How could that happen?
The law sets the date for the US presidential elections to be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November, every four years, so this year the date will be November 3.
Changing the date is within the power of US lawmakers, not the president. A majority of legislators in both houses of Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) must vote in favor of changing the date of the elections. This is unlikely, given that it must first go through the House of Representatives, in which Democrats control the majority.
Even if the election date is changed, the United States Constitution stipulates that the president’s administration will last only four years, which means that Trump’s presidency will automatically end on the afternoon of January 20, 2021.
Changing the date of the elections requires an amendment to the constitution. This, in turn, needs the approval of two-thirds of US lawmakers or state legislatures. And then three-quarters of the US states agree. This is also unlikely to happen.
What if Trump were incapacitated by illness?
So far, it has been reported that President Trump has (moderate symptoms), but if the disease makes it worse and he becomes unable to fulfill his duties. This matter is determined by the US Constitution as follows:
Amendment 25 allows the president to cede power to the vice president, which means that Mike Pence will assume the presidency. The president can return to the exercise of his functions after recovering.
If the president is in a critical health condition and cannot hand over power to his deputy, the cabinet and vice president may announce that the president cannot continue to serve, so Vice President Pence will assume office.
And if the vice president is also incapacitated (disqualified), the law that regulates the succession of presidential sessions stipulates that the speaker of the House of Representatives be the next person to assume the presidency, and today it is the Democrat Nancy Pelosi. However, constitutional law experts say such a transfer of power would spark legal battles.
If Pelosi is unwilling or unable to take power, it will fall to the Senate’s oldest Republican, 87-year-old Charles E. Grassley. This, in turn, will surely face legal challenges as well.
Has it ever happened that I became an American president unable to fulfill his duties?
In 1985, when President Ronald Reagan was in the hospital for an operation to remove a cancerous tumor, the then Vice President assigned George HW Bush to take over.
In 2002 and 2007, President Bush did the same for his vice president when he was administered sedative medications during routine endoscopic exams for his colonoscopy.
If Trump cannot run, what name would he take to vote at the polls?
If for some reason this happens, the Republican Party will choose a candidate to replace its candidate who has become unable to fulfill the duties of his function, and there are clear procedural steps that will be activated in this regard.
Although Vice President Mike Pence will initially assume the duties and functions of the presidency, he will not necessarily be the Republican candidate to run for office, because the party has formally nominated Trump for that and not others.
Under party statutes, the 168 members of the Republican National Committee will vote to select the new presidential candidate, and Pence will be one of the possible candidates.
If Pence is selected for this position, a partner must be chosen for the vice president position.
Never in the history of the United States have Democrats or Republicans replaced their presidential candidate after he was officially elected.
What about early voting?
Experts say this will raise a lot of questions. Because millions of voters voted and mailed the choice of the names of the candidates nominated by their parties.
In some states, the first direct elections have also started with the presence of voters in the polling stations.
“The voting is likely to continue with the name of an ineligible candidate (unable to perform his duties) on the ballot,” wrote Rick Hassen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
However, questions remain as to whether state law will allow individuals nominated for membership in the United States Electoral College (the electoral college that elects the president) to cast their votes for a substitute candidate.
What about changing a candidate’s name, if one of the candidates retires? “President Trump will definitely stay on the ballot no matter what,” says law professor and election expert Richard Bilds.
And it indicates a theoretical possibility that the Republican Party will seek a court order to change the candidate’s name, but in practice there is not enough time for that.