Bernie/Tulsi win the Dem nomination over second place Biden. Bernie dies before the general election.
Now normally we’d say Tulsi goes on as the nominee but these arnt normal times.
The DNC and Biden pitch a fit and say that he should be the nominee as Tulsi was not the presidential nominee
Does this seem plausible? Would it work?
I’m sure this was covered as a hypothetical during McCain/Palin. My feeling is no, they’d pick a brand new ticket.
I’m right though that the **** would hit the fan arnt I? And the closer to the election the more chaos…
Why in the world would you say “normally” Tulsi would be the nominee. She isn’t Veep yet, it’s not mandated by any law that she is the new nominee. Please correct me if there’s some law or custom I’m unaware of.
This has actually been covered in real life. If either the Presidential or Vice Presidential nominee dies (or in the case of Tom Eagleton in 1972) resigns, the party’s National Committee picks a new candidate.
Of course, that wouldn’t prevent the Biden camp (or the Tulsi camp if the DNC chose Biden) from pitching a major fight and ripping the party apart, but at least there’s a rule in place.
Did I miss an announcement that Bernie picked Tulsi?
The universe in which Bernie picks Tulsi ain’t our universe, and I don’t know what the DNC bylaws are in that universe. Over there, is Bernie a monitor lizard?
In the event that a vacancy occurs due to death, the national committee will pick a replacement. Arguably they wouldn’t even be obligated to keep Tulsi on the ticket. That’d be a hard sell but one could say that the new circumstances would require looking at both candidacies.
Well…that squelches a good deal of possible chaos. Is that all it takes? Even if Bernie died two days before the election (Sorry this line of questioning is a bit ghoulish) this committee need only vote and thats it? No one would say “Its too late to change the ballots.”?
I found some answers…basically “It would be really messy”
Thank you. I had a moment of concern.
State Secretaries of State would very much say whatever their individual state law said about the last day to change ballots. The DNC does not control the actual ballots regardless of what their internal rules say. They control the party nominee as long as they also comply with those laws.
Republicans couldn’t get Roy Moore dropped off the AL special election for the Senate when the allegations against him broke a couple years back. Democrats couldn’t get Mel Carnahan removed from the MO ballot for Senate when he died in a plane crash less than a month before the 2000 election. He won posthumously. The Governor then appointed Carnahan’s widow as he had promised before the election.
Don’t forget that although the candidates names actually appear on the ballots, that is not who you are voting for. You are voting on a slate of electors and they will damned well follow the dictates of whoever the DNC chooses as candidate. I think this would also cover the case that the candidate dies before the EC casts its votes. The one scenario that OP could be correct is that the president-elect dies before the vote is accepted by the House.
But this raises another question. Suppose the VP has been duly elected and the name sent to the Senate. But Moscow Mitch decides that in light of events, the Senate will refuse to count the ballots. Then what? Goes to the Republican SCOTUS who refuse to get involved.
There’s no way Bernie would pick Tulsi as a running mate. I’ll eat my shoe if I’m wrong.
Amendment XII:
Prissy Pense, not Moscow Mitch, is President of the Senate. Would he refuse his Constitutional duty? Or would Mitch refuse to count after being handed the lists? Suppose a clumsy clerk accidentally shredded the certified lists. Would state electors vote again?