# Will there even be a 2020 election? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 26, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027 "2019-11-26T20:48:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/61 "2019-11-28T02:29:56Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I’m not sure he has enough of the right sorts of allies to prevent his being physically removed from the White House if he decides he doesn’t agree with handing over power to a new occupant. Again, the president and White House are completely separate entities. The new incoming president doesn’t need the White House for anything - he or she has power by mere virtue of being president. Ex-President Trump could build a tent fort with blankets in the Oval Office from January 2021 to the end of his life and it wouldn’t mean a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/62 "2019-11-28T03:23:24Z")
True-ish enough. But the place has infrastructure built in that makes it a really convenient place to preside from. I suppose the new kid could just lock the front door when T goes out to get his daily Happy Meal and that would be that. Now I’m going to have visions of a raggedy old man Trump skulking about the grounds, peeping in windows, and muttering to himself. ---
**Author:** ![skyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@skyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skyr)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/63 "2019-11-28T06:34:55Z")
The odds seem to favor that Trump will be re-elected, but if Trump does actually lose the election, I am pretty confident he will just go back to shitposting on Twitter and there will not be any kind of civil war. After all, there have been very hotly contested elections pretty much every election (except maybe Reagan v. Mondale - which some of the Dem candidates definitely could bring us back to) There are plenty of fascists in the world, but the POTUS ain’t one of them. If you want to better understand what fascism (or really authoritarianism I suppose) actually looks like, try going to Tiananman Square and yell “FUCK XI JINPING!”. See what happens to you after that. Or just look at how people in Hollywood scream about how awful Trump is all day without any fear, yet most of them do not have the courage to confront China (which now owns a good amount of American tech and entertainment, btw) over the Chinese govt’s killing of the Hong Kong protesters. Those are the people you should be really worried about - the people you aren’t allowed to criticize. The people that everyone is afraid to criticize. People like you and Stephen Colbert are in absolutely no danger despite constantly bitching about Trump, and that’s all you need to know to realize he is not actually a fascist or authoritarian. ---
**Author:** ![road\_lobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@road\_lobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/road_lobo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/64 "2019-11-28T09:30:34Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > I think that there is a possibility that we may not have a 2020 election. In some way or another… Did Amazon have a sale on weasel words? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/65 "2019-11-28T12:46:24Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > We wuz robbed. :mad: That was the 2017 election for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 94th district. The Democratic candidate, Shelly Simonds, won the recount by \*\*one \*\*vote. That gave the House of Delegates a Democratic majority for the first time in years, by the slimmest margin: \*\*one \*\*seat. Thereupon the judges ruled **one** previously invalidated ballot was now valid and counted for the Republican, making a tie. They pulled the Republican name out of a bowl and made him the winner, giving the House of Delegates back to Republican control by that **one** seat. > > All they did was delay the inevitable Democratic majority by two years. Just this month \*both \*the House and Senate flipped to Democratic majorities! All’s well that ends well? Correct except for one detail: if Simonds had been declared the winner in 2017, neither party would have had a majority in the House of Delegates; it would have been a 50-50 tie for control of the HoD. Yancey ultimately being declared the winner gave the GOP a 51-49 majority there. If Simonds had won, life would have been interesting. In Virginia, the Lieutenant Governor plays a similar role in the state Senate as the Vice President does in the U.S. Senate, so if the state Senate ever was divided 20-20 (there are 40 state Senators in Virginia), the LtGov’s party would control the Senate. _But there are no rules concerning who has control if the HoD is evenly divided._ Life in Richmond would have gotten really, _really_ interesting. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/66 "2019-11-28T12:57:15Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The address the last statement first, “refusing to step down” is meaningless. The President doesn’t step down. The Presidency isn’t something you can possess. If Trump loses the election, what happens is some other person is sworn in on January 20, 2021, and then that person starts doing the job. Trump can actually barricade himself in the Oval Office; he still wouldn’t be the President. And if Trump barricaded himself in the Oval Office, the Secret Service would remove him - as gently as possible, I’m sure, but firmly. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/67 "2019-11-28T14:03:16Z")
> [@skyr](#): > > The odds seem to favor that Trump will be re-elected, but if Trump does actually lose the election, I am pretty confident he will just go back to shitposting on Twitter and there will not be any kind of civil war. After all, there have been very hotly contested elections pretty much every election The fact that the election is hotly-contested is not the basis for anyone here being concerned. I for one have never worried about the possibility of civil unrest following any modern western election. In 2016, I thought if trump lost there might be a handful of crazies, but nothing large-scale. This time, I really think there are enough crazies for potentially either large scale unrest / violence for a short time, or some kind of cult that operates on a smaller scale indefinitely. > [@](#): > > There are plenty of fascists in the world, but the POTUS ain’t one of them. > If you want to better understand what fascism (or really authoritarianism I suppose) actually looks like, try going to Tiananman Square and yell “FUCK XI JINPING!”. See what happens to you after that. Bit of a bait and switch there. That Trump has not yet managed to transform america in this way doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to. His actual words advocate for fascist ideals in just about every conceivable way (do we need to go through the definition of fascism side by side with trump quotes?) and his attempts to compress all the branches of government into a united pool of lackeys, use of misinformation / erode all trust in the media etc support this. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/68 "2019-11-28T15:30:04Z")
**[Moderating]** > [@Ambivalid](#): > > Smh. You and the OP would make a cute couple. Maybe you could PM him a sexy selfie? This is wholly inappropriate. I’m only stepping in here because a lot of folks are unavailable today, and I’ll let the regular IMHO moderators decide what sanctions, if any, to take. But I will say that you need to not post things like this. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/69 "2019-11-28T16:01:16Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > The election will happen. Trump may not like the result. I’m not sure he has enough of the right sorts of allies to prevent his being physically removed from the White House if he decides he doesn’t agree with handing over power to a new occupant. And the nature of his preferred shenanigans is established well enough that nobody will buy whatever cockamamie scheme he hatches to nullify the result. Which is not to say he won’t TRY something, just that it won’t come close to working. Two things about the Secret Service: 1. they DO NOT fuck around 2. they are beholden to the President. If someone new is inaugurated in January 2021, that person is who they are sworn to protect. Not the one who refuses to vacate. (yes, I’m aware presidents are granted security by the Secret Service after they leave office, but that doesn’t mean they’re still president.) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/70 "2019-11-28T16:33:38Z")
That would be a great movie…one Secret Service team protecting trump, and another trying to throw his fat ass out, with shit getting progressively more real. ETA: _White House Clown_ ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/71 "2019-11-28T17:44:13Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > (yes, I’m aware presidents are granted security by the Secret Service after they leave office, but that doesn’t mean they’re still president.) I could have sworn that I read something dating back to the first year of his presidency that he always preferred his ‘Trump Brand’ private security ( aka Trump MERCs ) to Secret Service. Of course, that could have all been for show as this president Lies like a Rug. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/72 "2019-11-28T18:18:09Z")
Maybe some Americans should go live in countries with actual political problems and acutal compícated elections; man, stop whinning like silly babies.e ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/73 "2019-11-28T20:51:45Z")
On a related note, what if something happens that makes it impossible to hold an election in a big section or two of the US? Suppose there’s a major earthquake in Southern California that devastates the state from San Diego to Santa Barbara. At the same time, a hurricane destroys much of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. Does the election happen as usual in the rest of the country, with the results held until the affected areas can hold their election? Does the whole country wait until elections can be held simultaneously? How big an area would there have to be where elections are impossible to hold results until the people there have a chance to vote? If for instance for some reason, Dayton (population about 140,000) can’t hold an election, what happens? A few years ago, there was speculation that a dedicated group of hackers could take down the entire electrical grid of the US. I don’t think it’s possible in much (all?) of the country to hold an election without power. So what happens? I think it’s obvious that the election will be rescheduled, but who decides when it would be held? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/74 "2019-11-29T00:16:15Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Maybe some Americans should go live in countries with actual political problems and acutal compícated elections; man, stop whinning like silly babies.e jesus. “No crying about domestic politics when there’s an Irishman in the room.” If you want to summarily dismiss someone’s gripe, “First world problems” already has currency. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/75 "2019-11-29T00:52:35Z")
What happens if two weeks prior to the election a Trump political appointee uses their position to have the democratic nominee arrested on demonstrably false, trumped up charges? Takes more than two weeks to sort it out, but is found later that evidence was falsified. Naturally the perpetrator is guilty of a crime, but the orange one just provides a pardon - a lovely big cash payment Impeachable offense? Yeah right, with the current crop of republicans like that’s gonna happen. Anyway - even if he is impeached, the next is line is still a republican ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/76 "2019-11-29T08:35:57Z")
I think a little bit of paranoia can be heathy in bringing up a self-defeating prophecy, so the OP’s question can be sane. But do not overdo it, please: then it would stop being healthy and might even turn self-fulfilling. Trump is by nature a cheater and will try to cheat, if he feels like losing he might try to cancel the election. If enough people support him then it would get nasty. And Putin is an opportunist that would gladly stoke the flames. Don’t provide them with an excuse. But I think this is not very likely, as I reckon that the majority of US citizens are not evil fools. Only some. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/77 "2019-11-29T09:29:11Z")
This POTUS has expended extreme effort to keep his financial records secret, likely IMHO because we would learn who/what owns him and that his actions meet the constitutional definition of treason. A fear I’ve expressed before: He will take horribly drastic steps to prevent such exposure. How horrible? WMD attacks on convenient enemy states or false-flag WMD strikes on the US; uncovering alleged conspiracies; any excuse to declare martial law, round up dissidents, and impose Order. Citizens not yet jailed had better vote right. Do I think such WILL happen? Not really. I hope our system is not so fragile. But I fear it COULD happen. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/78 "2019-11-29T14:11:48Z")
The _location_ of PotUS has no bearing at all on his/her ability to be PotUS. A newly inaugurated PotUS is still PotUS if they are in Minot, SD. A former PotUS is no longer PotUS even if they are sitting in the Oval Office. Not a single thing the former PotUS does would be consider an act of office. Could not order the military to do anything, could not sign legislation, could not make appointments, etc. The new PotUS could do all of those things. As a private citizen, being in the WH without authorization is a crime. All the usual procedures apply just like with anyone else. Police make an arrest, take the person away, charges are filed, etc. The SS would assist in this, not hinder it. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/79 "2019-11-29T20:36:18Z")
Chances are good that the 2020 election will proceed “normally” — i.e. with lots of GOP cheating but without a scandal sufficient to cause major civil insurrection. If Trump loses, many Republicans will be happy to see him go anyway. But the idea that the GOP observes the rule of law is absurd. Right now, they are defying legally-issued subpoenas. Potus has surrounded himself with criminals. If a GOP state government sees some political advantage in obstructing the election it won’t hesitate to do so. For example, if a devastating hurricane shuts down part of Florida on Election Day, the decision to reschedule the election will be based entirely on whether the affected area leans D or R. > [@Velocity](#): > > **MarcusFlavius,** I’d like to join in on this bet. Give me odds of anything you want. 100 to 1. Even 1000 to 1. I’ll bet you the elections aren’t getting canceled. Define your terms exactly; then we’ll talk. I may only want to risk $200 or so. Would it be worth your time to put a mere $200,000 into escrow? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027/80 "2019-11-30T00:19:18Z")
Is this a joke? The idiot in chief has done stupid shit, but also good shit. We’re nowhere close to a Constitutional crisis, popular uprising, or coup d’etat. Where do stupid questions such as this originate? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-even-be-a-2020-election/844027.md?page=5)