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I tried to get a reply to this on one of the politics newsgroups, but
they are so overloaded lately that no one replies, or can possibly
read all the postings.
My question is this:
It's only days before the election.
What would happen if one of the US presidential candidates, or VP
candidates were to die or become incapable of doing the job?
Heaven forbid this happen, but with all the flying and moving around
they are doing, anything is possible.
I already know that if the president dies, the vice pres takes over.
Does that mean that the VP would automatically become the candidate
too? Then who would be the VP candidate?
Or what if something happened to John Kerry. Who would be the
democrat candidate, would it be Edwards? If so, who would then become
the VP candidate?
Could something like this cause the election to be cancelled and held
at a later date?
Finally, the independant candidates. None of them are registered in
all 50 states, so that pretty much eliminates them from winning. Yet,
if one of them were to die or become incapacitated right before the
election, would the election continue on the correct date?
I imagine all of this is covered by the US constitution (somehow).
Does anyone know these answers?
Thanks for all replies.
PS. Are write in votes published anywhere? I would find it fun to see
them. I know Mickey Mouse has always been popular....
Mark
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I tried to get a reply to this on one of the politics newsgroups,
but
they are so overloaded lately that no one replies, or can possibly
read all the postings.
My question is this:
It's only days before the election.
What would happen if one of the US presidential candidates, or VP
candidates were to die or become incapable of doing the job?
I don't know any of the answers. I was hoping someone would answer,
because your question made me curious. I don't want to look up the
answers, because that's like work. So I'll give you my guesses while
we wait for someone who knows to answers.
Heaven forbid this happen, but with all the flying and moving around
they are doing, anything is possible.
Since the vice presidential candidate is listed on the ballot along
with the presidential candidate, I think the vice presidential
candidate would become the presidential candidate.
I already know that if the president dies, the vice pres takes over.
Does that mean that the VP would automatically become the candidate
too? Then who would be the VP candidate?
If the president dies before the election the vp becomes president and
will serve until inauguaration day in January. In the election after
the death of the president, the vice presidential candidate for that
party becomes the presidential candidate. That might be the current
vp.
Or what if something happened to John Kerry. Who would be the
democrat candidate, would it be Edwards? If so, who would then
become
the VP candidate?
I think Edwards becomes the democrat candidate.
Could something like this cause the election to be cancelled and
held
at a later date?
Nope.
Finally, the independant candidates. None of them are registered in
all 50 states, so that pretty much eliminates them from winning.
Sure they are registered in all states. Oh, wait. You meant the
Independant Party, Peace and Freedom Party, and Green Party, Etc,
candidate, right?
Yet, if one of them were to die or become incapacitated right before
the
election, would the election continue on the correct date?
Yes.
I imagine all of this is covered by the US constitution (somehow).
Does anyone know these answers?
I don't. I'm just guessing.
PS. Are write in votes published anywhere? I would find it fun to
see
them. I know Mickey Mouse has always been popular....
All of the votes are public records. But I don't know whether anyone
has responsibility for publishing the results. It would seem logical
that some government agency must publish all of them. But it may be
that they get published only if some reporter sees an interesting
story and asks for the list.
McGyver
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It's only days before the election.
What would happen if one of the US presidential candidates, or VP
candidates were to die or become incapable of doing the job?
I already know that if the president dies, the vice pres takes over.
Does that mean that the VP would automatically become the candidate
too? Then who would be the VP candidate?
Since we don't vote for the presidential or vice-presidential candidates
directly, I would assume that the electors who win on election day would be
responsible for casting ballots for some other viable candidate of their
choosing.
Obviously IANAL.
--
Don in Upstate NY
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Don Priebe wrote:
It's only days before the election.
What would happen if one of the US presidential candidates, or VP
candidates were to die or become incapable of doing the job?
I already know that if the president dies, the vice pres takes over.
Does that mean that the VP would automatically become the candidate
too? Then who would be the VP candidate?
Since we don't vote for the presidential or vice-presidential candidates
directly, I would assume that the electors who win on election day would
be
responsible for casting ballots for some other viable candidate of their
choosing.
Yes and isn't it funny how the Electors
always just happen to vote for the people
they are "supposed" to vote for?
But what is really intersting is this:
What if there were a tie?
Obviously IANAL.
Don in Upstate NY
I am not a lawyer. I do not even see email sent to this address, due to
past DOS attacks. If you wish to respond, do so through this newsgroup.
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thisisme@cotse.net wrote:
Don Priebe wrote:
It's only days before the election.
What would happen if one of the US presidential candidates, or VP
candidates were to die or become incapable of doing the job?
I already know that if the president dies, the vice pres takes over.
Does that mean that the VP would automatically become the candidate
too? Then who would be the VP candidate?
be
Yes and isn't it funny how the Electors
always just happen to vote for the people
they are "supposed" to vote for?
In most states, they're required to do so by State law. However,
that state law is clearly in violation of the Federal Constitution,
so they can vote for whomever they want to.
Also, the electors are chosen by the campaign, so they might be
likely to choose people they consider reliable.
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But what is really intersting is this:
What if there were a tie?
The Constitution deals with this. See Article II, Section 1, Clause 3.
--
Brett
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Don Priebe wrote:
It's only days before the election.
What would happen if one of the US presidential candidates, or VP
candidates were to die or become incapable of doing the job?
I already know that if the president dies, the vice pres takes over.
Does that mean that the VP would automatically become the candidate
too? Then who would be the VP candidate?
be
I am not a lawyer. I do not even see email sent to this address, due to
past DOS attacks. If you wish to respond, do so through this newsgroup.
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maradcliff@UNLISTED.com wrote:
I tried to get a reply to this on one of the politics newsgroups, but
they are so overloaded lately that no one replies, or can possibly
read all the postings.
My question is this:
It's only days before the election.
What would happen if one of the US presidential candidates, or VP
candidates were to die or become incapable of doing the job?
If it were the current President who died, the VP would succeed under
the 25th Amendment. Then there would be no current Vice President and
the (new) President could submit one to the senate for review.
If the President-Elect were to die and the vice-president elect was not
the current vice-president, most likely the VP candidate named by the
Electoral College would become President and be sworn in as such, then
he would submit to the Senate his choice for vice president, who would
then (almost certainly) confirm his choice and that person would become
vice president, as is what happened when President Ford named Nelson
Rockefeller vice president.
If it was considered not possible to simply make the VP-elect the new
president due to the death of the President-elect, then the VP candidate
named by the Electoral College would be named the new Vice President and
would be sworn in. It could then be noted that since the prior
president has exceeded his time in office and is therefore not permitted
to remain as president and therefore there is no current president, that
the new vice president would then be sworn in as President. Essentially
the same thing. I consider the former to be more likely.
If the President-elect were too senile to take the oath of office if the
Vice President took the oath he would then become acting President under
the 25th Amendment until the cabinet were able to formally declare the
President incompetent.
If the President was able to take the oath but incapable of performing
the duties of president, it would require the cabinet declare him such.
Some consider the requirement of the 25th Amendment effectively the
equivalent of a legal coup-de-etat.
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thisisme@cotse.net wrote:
Yes and isn't it funny how the Electors
always just happen to vote for the people
they are "supposed" to vote for?
The Electors generally are sworn to vote for the person to whom they are
named. There really is no penalty if they were to choose to vote for
someone else although technically some states have laws against this I
have a suspicion they would not be enforceable.
Electors are generally long-term party supporters. Do you seriously
expect a long-term democratic party member who is an Electoral College
Elector to vote for Bush or a long-term Republican who is an Electoral
College Elector to vote for Kerry?
But what is really intersting is this:
What if there were a tie?
The House of Representatives then decides who is the winner.
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