# Can elections be postponed in a national emergency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081 "2003-04-02T23:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/1 "2003-04-02T23:54:12Z")
I searched here and on Google, came up with nothing definitive but then I’m not a Google expert by any means. All I found was an article that said Richard Nixon wanted a constitutional amendment to allow this, but I didn’t find anything to indicate that it was ever seriously considered. So can the President (or anyone) declare a national emergency and suspend elections? Is this one of those things that we won’t know can happen until it does? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/91b2a8/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_Sandwhich)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/2 "2003-04-03T00:08:12Z")
Do you mean postponed until next week or postponed until the President feels like it? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/3 "2003-04-03T00:11:07Z")
They had a presidential election during the Civil War, so I’m wondering just what bigger problem we’d be looking at. Elections are a combination of state and Federal laws, so the answer would be “it depends”. Primary elections in NYC were delayed in 2001 as they were originally scheduled for 9/11. Natural disasters would be a more likely reason for a delayed election than any other “emergency” I would think. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/4 "2003-04-03T01:29:37Z")
Earl, I guess postponed “until he feels like it.” In the event we had a president who felt like he was the only one who could manage a crisis. I’d like to think it couldn’t happen, that the election process is so embedded in our democratic psyche that we just wouldn’t allow it. But whenever I say “it’ll never happen”, it does. But usually it’s about little things, like the pipes won’t freeze or the dog won’t get loose. 🙂 Thanks Earl and Bob. I’m a bit reassured. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/5 "2003-04-03T02:12:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AuntiePam \* > **In the event we had a president who felt like he was the only one who could manage a crisis.** Well, remember, the President’s term doesn’t end on Election Day. He’d have until January 20th to finish the job if he’s not re-elected. I’d consider the President postponing elections to be a grand breach of power in most cases. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/6 "2003-04-03T02:25:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AuntiePam \* > In the event we had a president who felt like he was the only one who could manage a crisis. Well, even if President lost an election in November, his successor won’t be sworn in until late January, giving the current Prez more than two months to deal with a particular crisis. If he went visibly nuts, declaring long and loud that only HE could manage the current crisis, the cabinet would (I hope) smile and nod, smile and nod, and quietly put the Vice-President in charge (25th Amendment, paragraph 4) and let the election proceed normally. Of course, under such conditions, the incumbent would almost certainly be voted out. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/7 "2003-04-03T02:38:16Z")
Not on a national level, but the New York mayoral and city council primaries were delayed following 9-11 (in fact, they were originally _on_ 9-11. No New York constitutional crisis ensued, and despite some maneuvering a new mayor was duly installed on schedule. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/8 "2003-04-03T02:54:46Z")
Part of the reason why elections are held many weeks or months before the term of office begins is precisely so they can be moved is emergency situations demand it. Each state maintains its own election laws and has their own procedures for cancelling elections and stuff. The President could not legally hold office after Jan 20th if he was not re-elected by the electoral college, but there’s plenty of time between election day and then to reschedule elections if there is some emergency that would prevent them. In fact, I don’t think there’s any particular requirement that mandates all states hold Presidential elections on the same day, since each state is permitted to appoint its electors in pretty much any way it chooses. ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/9 "2003-04-03T03:06:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*In fact, I don’t think there’s any particular requirement that mandates all states hold Presidential elections on the same day, since each state is permitted to appoint its electors in pretty much any way it chooses. \*\* Actually, there is such a requirement: > [@](#): > > The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States. [Const., art. II, sec. 1.](http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html#section1) Pursuant to the constitutional provision, the law provides that > [@](#): > > The electors of President and Vice President shall be appointed, in each State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President. [3 U.S.C. § 1](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/3/1.html). ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/10 "2003-04-03T03:36:42Z")
> [@](#): > > If he went visibly nuts, declaring long and loud that only HE could manage the current crisis, the cabinet would (I hope) smile and nod, smile and nod, and quietly put the Vice-President in charge (25th Amendment, paragraph 4) Any chance we could get them to do that to Bush? 😃 [ducking & running] Seriously, President Lincoln had to run for re-election while half the nation was in a state of armed rebellion, so the historical precedent is a rather definite “No!” ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/11 "2003-04-03T04:16:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*If he went visibly nuts, declaring long and loud that only HE could manage the current crisis, the cabinet would (I hope) smile and nod, smile and nod, and quietly put the Vice-President in charge (25th Amendment, paragraph 4) and let the election proceed normally. Of course, under such conditions, the incumbent would almost certainly be voted out. \*\* The 25th amendment is one route to rescuing an election from a megalomaniac president. But a president who ordered an election postponed or canceled probably couldn’t make it stick in any case. Not only is there no constitutional or statutory authority for such a presidential action, no part of the electoral machinery is in the hands of the president or his or her subordinates. The states appoint the electors, who vote in their states, and the certificates evidencing their votes are widely disseminated in case anything “accidentally” happens to the original certificate that they “transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States”: > [@](#): > > The electors shall dispose of the certificates so made by them and the lists attached thereto in the following manner: > > First. They shall forthwith forward by registered mail one of the same to the President of the Senate at the seat of government. > > Second. Two of the same shall be delivered to the secretary of state of the State, one of which shall be held subject to the order of the President of the Senate, the other to be preserved by him for one year and shall be a part of the public records of his office and shall be open to public inspection. > > Third. On the day thereafter they shall forward by registered mail two of such certificates and lists to the Archivist of the United States at the seat of government, one of which shall be held subject to the order of the President of the Senate. The other shall be preserved by the Archivist of the United States for one year and shall be a part of the public records of his office and shall be open to public inspection. > > Fourth. They shall forthwith cause the other of the certificates and lists to be delivered to the judge of the district in which the electors shall have assembled. [3 U.S.C. § 11.](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/3/11.html) Even if the vice president, in his or her capacity as president of the Senate, is in on the deal with the president, at least one copy is still in the state’s hands: > [@](#): > > When no certificate of vote and list mentioned in sections 9 and 11 of this title from any State shall have been received by the President of the Senate or by the Archivist of the United States by the fourth Wednesday in December, after the meeting of the electors shall have been held, the President of the Senate or, if he be absent from the seat of government, the Archivist of the United States shall request, by the most expeditious method available, the secretary of state of the State to send up the certificate and list lodged with him by the electors of such State; and it shall be his duty upon receipt of such request immediately to transmit same by registered mail to the President of the Senate at the seat of government. [3 U.S.C. § 12.](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/3/12.html)And a copy is in a court’s hands: > [@](#): > > When no certificates of votes from any State shall have been received at the seat of government on the fourth Wednesday in December, after the meeting of the electors shall have been held, the President of the Senate or, if he be absent from the seat of government, the Archivist of the United States shall send a special messenger to the district judge in whose custody one certificate of votes from that State has been lodged, and such judge shall forthwith transmit that list by the hand of such messenger to the seat of government. [3 U.S.C. § 13.](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/3/13.html) Thus, a president can declare whatever he or she likes, but the states and Congress can go ahead with the election anyway. An election could not be postponed or canceled just on the president’s say-so unless there was either a very broad consensus or a _very_ broad conspiracy in favor of such an action. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/12 "2003-04-03T04:23:09Z")
The USA also has enormous precedent against postponing national elections during crisis. Elections were held during the Civil War and World War II. And during the Civil War, McClellan campaigned vigorously against Lincoln and in favor of a negotiated settlement of the war. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-elections-be-postponed-in-a-national-emergency/166081/13 "2003-04-03T04:30:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by brianmelendez \* > But a president who ordered an election postponed or canceled probably couldn’t make it stick in any case. Not only is there no constitutional or statutory authority for such a presidential action, no part of the electoral machinery is in the hands of the president or his or her subordinates. It’s true that a President saying “the election is cancelled” has no weight of law, but we can postulate a worst-case scenario where a bonkers President starts dispatching federal troops to bust up polling stations and whatnot. Those sorts of shenangians have happened in plenty of places, though I personally doubt the U.S. could ever get that far. Reading some of the Pit threads about Bush and Rumsfeld suggests quite a few SDMB members feel otherwise.