# Can a party replace their candidate after the convention? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 13, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687 "2016-05-13T15:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/1 "2016-05-13T15:06:30Z")
To be clear, I know that Hillary Clinton will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee, and I also know that it’s very unlikely that she will be indicted for anything, so this is purely a theoretical question. That said, what if she were indicted after the convention? Can the party run a different candidate in the general? In general, if a candidate quits, dies, is indicted, or in some other way becomes ineligible after being nominated at the convention, can the party replace them on the general ballot? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/2 "2016-05-13T15:35:04Z")
Sure, it happened with Thomas Eagleton ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/3 "2016-05-13T15:41:50Z")
Basically, [the Party calls a meeting](http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/20431) and they decide on a new person. Nothing overly complex about it. > [@](#): > > Since the time of Andrew Jackson’s run for the presidency in 1828, individual political parties have had the job of filling any vacancy on their national ticket, either that of their presidential or vice-presidential candidate. If one of their candidates vacates the ticket after they are nominated, either because of death or withdrawal, the party selects a replacement. > > Both the Republican and the Democratic parties have rules in their bylaws governing how to fill the vacancy. The Party Chair calls a meeting of the National Committee, and the Committee members at the meeting vote to fill the vacancy on the ticket. A candidate must receive a majority of the votes to win the party’s nod. > > The same process would happen if the vacancy were to occur after the general election but before the Electoral College voting. If a vacancy should occur on the winning ticket, it would then be the party’s responsibility to fill it and provide a candidate for whom their electors could vote. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/4 "2016-05-13T17:14:25Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > In general, if a candidate quits, dies, **is indicted** , or in some other way becomes ineligible after being nominated at the convention, can the party replace them on the general ballot? This is the odd one out. Being indicted does not disqualify a person from being elected President so there is no vacancy. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/5 "2016-05-13T18:24:31Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > This is the odd one out. Being indicted does not disqualify a person from being elected President so there is no vacancy. Can the party kick the person off the ballot and replace them in that instance? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/6 "2016-05-13T20:00:31Z")
If nothing else, they could always just ask the electors (who are generally chosen from among those most faithful to the party) to vote for someone else. If we’re going to accept all of the drawbacks of the Electoral College, we might as well take advantage of the few benefits occasionally, too. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/7 "2016-05-13T21:02:54Z")
Right, but if they’re forced to run with the discredited candidate on the ballot, even if they plan to have their electors elect someone different, it’s going to hurt them at the polls. There’s no way you’d be able to educate America’s voters sufficiently enough that enough of them will realize that they’re not really voting for the listed candidate. Some won’t understand, and some will think it’s some kind of trick. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/8 "2016-05-13T22:01:58Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Can the party kick the person off the ballot and replace them in that instance? This is pretty much the same question as in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=792821), so I’ll answer pretty much the same way. The parties’ national committees can fill a vacancy on their tickdets, by I can’t find anything in either party’s by-laws that says they can declare a vacancy to exist. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/9 "2016-05-13T22:17:53Z")
I suppose that a lot of pressure could be brought to bear on the candidate to voluntarily drop out. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/10 "2016-05-13T23:15:56Z")
They’d have to make the switch relatively soon after the convention. The Dem convention is schedule for the end of July. The election is the beginning of November. Don’t most states require signatures filed and fees paid like 60 days before the election to get your name on the ballot? That leaves a few weeks in August where the Dems could decide to switch candidates and then collect signatures and file to be on the various states’ ballots and try to organize a campaign around the new candidate. I think it’d be a disaster to try, with virtually no chance of leading to the successful election of the substitute nominee. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/11 "2016-05-14T20:32:43Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > They’d have to make the switch relatively soon after the convention. The Dem convention is schedule for the end of July. The election is the beginning of November. Don’t most states require signatures filed and fees paid like 60 days before the election to get your name on the ballot? That leaves a few weeks in August where the Dems could decide to switch candidates and then collect signatures and file to be on the various states’ ballots and try to organize a campaign around the new candidate. I think it’d be a disaster to try, with virtually no chance of leading to the successful election of the substitute nominee. In many states, the candidates from the 2 major parties don’t have to collect signatures. If it happened after the filing deadline (but not so late that ballots wer already printed, etc.), the party could claim extraordinary circumstances and ask that the new candidates name be substituted. A fair number of states would have a Secretary-of State from that same party, so they would likely acceed to this request. In others, they might find a Judge who would order this. Otherwise, the party could just publicize that “votes for \ will count for \” (because of the Electoral College thing). But that could still hurt them – some people would not want to vote for a disgraced candidate, even if their vote goes to a new candidate from that same party. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/12 "2016-05-15T05:44:01Z")
Given that Democrats knew that indictment was a possibility, I doubt any state would be sympathetic to the “extraordinary circumstances” argument. There really is no scenario in which Clinton is indicted and Democrats win. In hindsight it will be easy to say that the Democrats knowingly nominated a felon. And not just any felon, one who actually thought she was above the law because of who she was. There’s no coming back from that. The race was close enough that if Democratic power brokers had treated Clinton as Republican power brokers treated Trump that she would have lost to Sanders(or Biden would have felt compelled to get into the race in November). They anointed someone they knew had legal problems. If such a bet goes bad, you lose and that’s the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/13 "2016-05-15T07:53:15Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Given that Democrats knew that indictment was a possibility, I doubt any state would be sympathetic to the “extraordinary circumstances” argument. > > There really is no scenario in which Clinton is indicted and Democrats win. In hindsight it will be easy to say that the Democrats knowingly nominated a felon. And not just any felon, one who actually thought she was above the law because of who she was. There’s no coming back from that. The race was close enough that if Democratic power brokers had treated Clinton as Republican power brokers treated Trump that she would have lost to Sanders(or Biden would have felt compelled to get into the race in November). They anointed someone they knew had legal problems. If such a bet goes bad, you lose and that’s the end of it. Ah yes, fantasy scenario #47234. Whatever helps you sleep at night… ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/14 "2016-05-15T10:51:46Z")
Since it’s a fantasy scenario, there’s no need to ever replace Clinton unless she dies. If she gets indicted, or is fatally damaged by the FBI report even though it doesn’t recommend an indictment, she stays on the ballot. Agreed? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/15 "2016-05-15T12:30:34Z")
No one else has to agree with your fantasies. They’re yours alone. Now what happens on your side if/when Trump’s tax evasion becomes public? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/16 "2016-05-15T12:40:08Z")
Trump’s the nominee and that’s that. Once the conventions happen, the race is set. No backsies. All the Trump voters know who he is, all the Clinton voters know who she is. Feigning shock and surprise should something fatal to their candidacies come out is just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/17 "2016-05-15T14:57:33Z")
The Democrats also know that it’s a possibility that a meteor will hit Clinton in the head. That wouldn’t make that circumstance any less extraordinary. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/18 "2016-05-15T15:25:57Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Trump’s the nominee and that’s that. Once the conventions happen, the race is set. No backsies. All the Trump voters know who he is, all the Clinton voters know who she is. Feigning shock and surprise should something fatal to their candidacies come out is just silly. Clinton is NOT going to be indicted. Deal with it and move on. I’m sure you have other dead horses to beat. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/19 "2016-05-15T20:21:16Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Trump’s the nominee and that’s that. Once the conventions happen, the race is set. No backsies. And yet you don’t think that’s true for Clinton. Odd. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687/20 "2016-05-15T22:49:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Clinton is NOT going to be indicted. Deal with it and move on. I’m sure you have other dead horses to beat. I interpret that to mean that she stays on the ballot no matter what. Thank you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-party-replace-their-candidate-after-the-convention/754687.md?page=2)