Two Things We Can Do Now, In Case A Candidate Dies
// 10/7/20 //
Larry Lessig and I have this new piece in the Washington Post, addressing what happens if a candidate dies between now and the time the Electoral College votes. It begins:
What would happen if a presidential candidate were to die close to an election? All of us should hope President Trump recovers quickly from covid-19, and that this difficult situation never arises. But the president’s illness underscores the reality that this outcome is within the realm of possibility — and that our existing election architecture needs fine-tuning to deal with it.
This scenario arose when we argued Supreme Court cases last spring about the role of presidential electors. Based both on history and current state and federal law — including the Supreme Court’s decision in the so-called faithless-elector case, Chiafalo v. Washington — it’s not clear what would happen if a presidential candidate dies either shortly before Election Day or before the electoral college has gathered to ratify the election results.
Read the whole thing here.
Tags:
Rule of Law Democracy Voting & Elections