# Could there be a reason to either cancel or postpone the US elections? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2015, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-there-be-a-reason-to-either-cancel-or-postpone-the-us-elections/719848 "2015-05-12T11:44:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-there-be-a-reason-to-either-cancel-or-postpone-the-us-elections/719848/41 "2015-05-14T01:02:46Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > I _suspect_, it’s legally a matter of “you vote if you can get there”; but if a bona fide _force majeure_ life-or-death emergency forces a state or group of states to extend their voting period a couple of days rather than a couple of hours until they dig themselves out, I imagine there would be no big whoop about an emergency declaration making it official. But meanwhile Candidate A has gathered 360 electoral votes anyway, what difference does it make. And if OTOH the count for all the other states comes up to 266 for A and 262 for B before the icebound states’ returns arrive, then we’ll just have to sit and wait for it, won’t we? Just as we waited a month for hanging chads to be counted in Florida in 2000. The Electoral College vote is not officially tallied until weeks after voting day, so there can be some margin in case of a true epic cataclysm. Not to mention, the Presidential election is pretty much never the only one going on. There will also be Congressional elections, possibly Senate elections, as well as state and local offices like governor, mayor, state legislators, and so forth. All the people running for those offices, and their respective parties, will want to know the outcomes. This gives the state strong incentive to get the election done sooner rather than later. They may extend things for a few days if necessary, but it’s impossible to imagine them cancelling things altogether unless society itself has completely broken down. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-there-be-a-reason-to-either-cancel-or-postpone-the-us-elections/719848/42 "2015-05-14T01:38:49Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > In the very first line of his post. Try again. Go back and read it. Okay I’ll make it easy for you and quote it: > [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Let’s say its November 1rst 2015, and right before the US fall elections the president comes online and announces that he is using presidential authority to postpone the elections. > > Could it happen? > > Could there be say a natural disaster or a time of mass civil unrest that could cause this? He says Fall elections. Nowhere does he say Presidential elections. As pointed out every year there are national elections in November. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-there-be-a-reason-to-either-cancel-or-postpone-the-us-elections/719848/43 "2015-05-14T01:49:12Z")
Except, **Omar Little** , that this November there is no \*Federal \*election. There will be mostly Municipal/County and some State-office elections; maybe some special elections to fill a Congressional vacancy, but POTUS/Congress have no authority over the election for Gityasuckah County Sherriff. **MrAtoz** – right, and the Federal and state constitutional structurings in the US do not provide for a “caretaker government” model as in some parliamentary systems. You’ve got to have a Chief Exec and you’ve got to be able to sit a Legislature’s quorum by a certain date. > [@dalej42](#): > > In 1999 every wing nut with an aol account was posting about how Clinton was going to use the Y2K bug to cancel the elections. I don’t remember any about George HW Bush, but I don’t think he raised the ire of most people who had derangement over Bill Clinton, George W Bush, or Obama Well, as has been mentioned earlier, it was after we were already in the Clinton term that widespread Internet access for more than just tech geeks really caught on, and allowed people who’d earlier just stand raving on a corner of the park or stuff a half dozen copies of their mimeographed 'zine in the alternative bookstore rack, to have a wider audience. So Bill, George W, and Barack end up enjoying life in the age of an active online wackosphere. There was a form of “Reagan Derangement” in its time though it was not about Ron calling off the election, but blundering into getting us all nuked before we could even get to it. Nixon, on his part, was figured by just about everyone to be ready to use every dirty trick in the book, and some new ones he’d write on the fly, to _steal_ the election, rather than suspend it… but that was not derangement, that was realizing hey, this is Dick Nixon we’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-there-be-a-reason-to-either-cancel-or-postpone-the-us-elections/719848/44 "2015-05-14T06:13:51Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Except, **Omar Little** , that this November there is no \*Federal \*election. Pretty sure that ALL elections, even the one in November 2016 are not really federal elections. They are all really state elections. Each state elects electors for the presidential candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-there-be-a-reason-to-either-cancel-or-postpone-the-us-elections/719848/45 "2015-05-14T08:38:09Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Pretty sure that ALL elections, even the one in November 2016 are not really federal elections. They are all really state elections. Each state elects electors for the presidential candidate. You seriously believe the OP was NOT trying to refer to the presidential election in 2016 but screwed it up?? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-there-be-a-reason-to-either-cancel-or-postpone-the-us-elections/719848/46 "2015-05-14T12:04:44Z")
I can only go on what the OP wrote. I try not to make additional inferences or bring certain biases to the discussions here. I’m sure that I have done that, but I try to avoid when possible, and let people’s post stand on their own. Maybe the OP, a regular here lately, will come and make it more clear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-there-be-a-reason-to-either-cancel-or-postpone-the-us-elections/719848.md?page=2)