What happens if a US presidential candidate drops out of the race?

WASHINGTON: A US presidential candidate never died or had to withdraw from a White House race so close to an election.

But President Donald Trump’s hospitalization for COVID-19 just a month before the Nov. 3 vote has raised the question of what happens if such an event occurs.

Trump is 74 years old, and while his opponent, Joe Biden, is in relatively good health at 77, he is the oldest Democratic candidate in history.

Below are some of the possible scenarios in the event that a nominee drops out:

DELAY THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?

Both the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democratic-majority House of Representatives would have to agree to a postponement.

“I don’t see it happening,” said Capri Cafaro, a former Democratic member of the Ohio state senate who teaches at American University. “It is unlikely that a Democratic majority would want to postpone the elections.”

Even during the Civil War between the North and the South, the elections of 1864 were held as scheduled and Abraham Lincoln won another term.

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CAN A CANDIDATE BE REPLACED?

Trump’s Republican Party and Biden’s Democratic Party have rules outlining how to fill a vacancy on the presidential ballot should it occur.

In the case of Trump’s Republican Party, the 168 members of the Republican National Committee could vote to select the replacement.

The RNC could also reconvene its national convention of more than 2,500 delegates to select a new candidate, but time pressure probably makes this unfeasible.

A simple majority would be all that is needed to elect a new candidate in any scenario.

In the case of the Democrats, the nearly 450 members of the Democratic National Committee would select a new presidential candidate.

READ: Biden starts campaign after negative test for COVID-19

CAN THERE BE A REPLACEMENT CANDIDATE ON THE BALLOT?

Probably not. “The problem at this point is that we are so far along in these 2020 elections that not only have the people cast their votes, the ballots have already been printed,” Cafaro said.

“You really don’t have enough time to reprint the ballots that say Mike Pence or Kamala Harris,” he said, referring to the Republican and Democratic vice presidential candidates, respectively.

More than 3.1 million Americans have already cast their votes, according to a tally by the University of Florida’s US Elections Project.

Also, the deadlines for accessing the ballots vary from state to state and have already passed in most cases.

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AND THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE?

While the United States has a popular vote, the president is elected by an absolute majority of the 538 members of the Electoral College.

In all but two states (Nebraska and Maine), the candidate who wins the majority of the popular vote in that state wins all the electors in that state.

Nothing in the Constitution requires voters to vote one way or another, but the Supreme Court ruled in July that states can fine so-called “infidel voters” who do not respect the popular vote.

Members of the Electoral College will meet in their respective states on December 14 and vote for president and vice president.

In the event that a candidate dies or withdraws before the Electoral College casts their votes, things could get complicated.

Individual state laws come into play, but each party could, in theory, order its constituents to vote for a replacement candidate.

On January 6, 2021, Congress will certify the results and the winner will be sworn in as president on January 20.

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