# {False Reports that} If Biden withdraws, the Democrats may not be allowed to put a (D) presidential candidate on the ballot in Wisconsin
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [July 19, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448 "2024-07-19T03:37:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/1 "2024-07-19T03:37:33Z")
Disclaimer: This is a Faux News article. That being said, even still, it may be accurately describing the laws on the books in the states mentioned.
> **[Heritage Foundation working on election legal challenges in case Biden pulled...](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/heritage-working-election-legal-challenges-case-biden-pulled-from-dnc-nomination)**
>
> The Heritage Foundation, a major conservative activist organization, is prepared to start legal battles in multiple swing states if Democrats try to swap Biden out of the party nomination.
The article mentions three states that could pose trouble for the D’s if Biden withdraws:
- **Wisconsin** does not allow Biden to be removed from the ballot unless he dies. Presumably, this means that if Biden withdraws from the race (while still being alive,) then it guarantees that Wisconsin will go to Trump on Election Night, since no other (D) candidate could be on the ticket.
- **Nevada** ’s deadline (June 28) has already passed. However, the state allows a candidate to be replaced on the ballot if he has cognitive issues, and Biden could claim that his old age qualifies for that. So there may still be hope for the Ds in Nevada.
- **Georgia** will not allow the Democrats to replace their candidate after September-6. So if Biden steps down between now and then, the Ds could still put a replacement candidate on the Georgia ballot. Any Biden withdrawal after Sept-6, however, would guarantee that Trump carries Georgia on Election Night, since there would be no way for Georgians to vote for a Democrat.
---
### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/2 "2024-07-19T03:45:38Z")
Once again, there is no candidate until a majority of delegates vote at the Democratic National Convention. This is all some combination of BS and FUD.
---
### Author:  [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/3 "2024-07-19T03:50:36Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> …it may be accurately describing…
Fox “News” in a nutshell. Is there no interesting Pravda speculation to discuss?
---
### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/4 "2024-07-19T04:00:02Z")
Don’t worry, I’m sure our federal court system will quickly and decisively set aside these trivial disputes, and they certainly won’t drag it out until the middle of Trump’s third term when the Supreme Court will rule 9-0 that Democrats must submit the names of candidates twelve years in advance.
---
### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/5 "2024-07-19T05:37:50Z")
The real story here is not “will these legal shenanigans work.” The real story should be “how obvious does the Right have to make it that they’ve entirely abandoned any semblance of caring about democracy and want to monkeywrench the election and disenfranchise millions of voters by any means necessary.”
---
### Author:  [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/6 "2024-07-19T07:23:21Z")
State election laws should not be taken lightly. Legal challenges should be welcome. If the legitimacy of the election is ever in doubt we wont know until these challenges clear the courts, upheld or otherwise.
---
### Author:  [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/7 "2024-07-19T07:31:33Z")
> [@Cervaise](#):
>
> The real story here is not “will these legal shenanigans work.” The real story should be “how obvious does the Right have to make it that they’ve entirely abandoned any semblance of caring about democracy and want to monkeywrench the election and disenfranchise millions of voters by any means necessary.”
What are you saying? Ignore the individual State laws that might be violated? How is taking advantage of existing laws by requiring that they be enforced “anti-democratic” in your eyes? Legal shananigans…sheesh.
---
### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/8 "2024-07-19T07:31:45Z")
> [@asterion](#):
>
> Once again, there is no candidate until a majority of delegates vote at the Democratic National Convention. This is all some combination of BS and FUD.
It appears, though, that several States have laws which don’t take that into account, apparently having been written by people who never dreamed that someone would try to throw a major party candidate off the ballot.
---
### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/9 "2024-07-19T07:35:48Z")
It would obviously be a setback if these lawsuits prevail, but it’s certainly not true that the Democratic candidate _couldn’t_ win those States, they would just have to do so as a write-in candidate. Sometimes obvious voter suppression moves piss people off so much that they actually increase voter turnout, despite the addition of extra hoops to jump through.
---
### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/10 "2024-07-19T07:39:46Z")
Actually, couldn’t they just keep Biden’s name on the ballot in those States? Everyone would know that they were really voting for Electors who would vote for the actual Democratic candidate.
---
### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/11 "2024-07-19T07:43:47Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#):
>
> Everyone would know that they were really voting for Electors who would vote for the actual Democratic candidate.
At least one of the states mentioned in the OP (Nevada) has a faithless elector law in which the elector is deemed to have resigned and rendered their vote null and void if they vote against the winning candidate. You can bet your bottom dollar the Republicans would do everything in their power to force those electors to vote for Biden instead of the “actual candidate”.
---
### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/12 "2024-07-19T07:48:38Z")
IANACL, but I don’t see how that can possibly be Constitutional. It’s one thing to make voting for the wrong candidate a crime, which some States have done, but a State law can’t render an Electoral vote “null and void”. Of course, with the current SCOTUS, we can’t rely on that.
---
### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/13 "2024-07-19T07:50:27Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#):
>
> IANACL, but I don’t see how that can possibly be Constitutional.
> **[Ray v. Blair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_v._Blair)**
>
> Ray v. Blair, 343 U.S. 214 (1952), is a major decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. It was a case on state political parties' requiring of presidential electors to pledge to vote for the party's nominees before being certified as electors. It ruled that it is constitutional for states to allow parties to require such a pledge of their candidates for elector, and that it was not a breach of otherwise qualified candidates' rights to be denied this position if they refused the pledge...
> **[Chiafalo v. Washington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiafalo_v._Washington)**
>
> Chiafalo v. Washington, 591 U.S. \_\_\_ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case on the issue of "faithless electors" in the Electoral College stemming from the 2016 United States presidential election. The Court ruled unanimously, by a vote of 9–0, that states have the ability to enforce an elector's pledge in presidential elections. Chiafalo deals with electors who received US$1,000 fines for not voting for the nominees of their party in the state of Washington. The case was originally con...
---
### Author:  [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/14 "2024-07-19T07:51:49Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> Disclaimer: This is a Faux News article.
Fox news.
---
### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/15 "2024-07-19T07:52:36Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#):
>
> It appears, though, that several States have laws which don’t take that into account, apparently having been written by people who never dreamed that someone would try to throw a major party candidate off the ballot.
My experience in looking into this issue in the last couple weeks is that the state laws _do_ take it into account, and people are simply citing the wrong laws out of ignorance or something else.
E.g. they’re looking at the deadline for filing as an independent candidate, or the deadline for a nominee for a state office to withdraw.
---
### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/16 "2024-07-19T07:52:51Z")
> [@Uncommon\_Sense](#):
>
> What are you saying? Ignore the individual State laws that might be violated? How is taking advantage of existing laws by requiring that they be enforced “anti-democratic” in your eyes? Legal shananigans…sheesh.
These lawsuits are attempting to throw a major party Presidential candidate off the ballot on a technicality based on an absurd law. So, yeah, anti-democratic.
The law as written is absurd. The deadline to remove Biden from the Democratic line on the ballot in Wisconsin and Nevada has already passed – but the Convention hasn’t voted, so Biden isn’t even officially the Democratic candidate yet! How does that make sense?
---
### Author:  [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/17 "2024-07-19T08:01:57Z")
Yikes. Well, I did say
> [@Thing.Fish](#):
>
> Of course, with the current SCOTUS, we can’t rely on that.
---
### Author:  [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/18 "2024-07-19T08:04:23Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#):
>
> > [@Uncommon\_Sense](#):
> >
> > What are you saying? Ignore the individual State laws that might be violated? How is taking advantage of existing laws by requiring that they be enforced “anti-democratic” in your eyes? Legal shananigans…sheesh.
>
> These lawsuits are attempting to throw a major party Presidential candidate off the ballot on a technicality based on an absurd law. So, yeah, anti-democratic.
>
> The law as written is absurd. The deadline to remove Biden from the Democratic line on the ballot in Wisconsin and Nevada has already passed – but the Convention hasn’t voted, so Biden isn’t even officially the Democratic candidate yet! How does that make sense?
Then have the laws changed. Every state has election laws that could be considered absurd or anti-democratic under microscope or in very specific uncomfortable situations. That doesn’t make them any less valid. Should we not have any laws regarding elections? One big free-for-all? These laws arent Biden or Democrat specific, they work both ways.
---
### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/19 "2024-07-19T08:40:33Z")
There is no ballot right now. There’s nothing for Biden to be removed from. This is a totally bullshit article.
---
### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448/20 "2024-07-19T13:01:37Z")
> [@Uncommon\_Sense](#):
>
> Fox news
Are you being whooshed, or am I?
Just in case it’s neither….”faux” means “false” or “fake” in French, and is a common and appropriate epithet for the television channel in question.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-reports-that-if-biden-withdraws-the-democrats-may-not-be-allowed-to-put-a-d-presidential-candidate-on-the-ballot-in-wisconsin/1004448.md?page=2)