What happens if Trump cannot run anymore? It gets messy, quickly....

[BigmanPigman]

First, the Republican National Committee would have to produce a new nominee, a process that would involve Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and the 168 national members — three from each state and territory. But since many states have already started printing, mailing and accepting ballots, and some have begun in-person voting, the name of a new nominee could be unlikely to be printed on ballots in time for Election Day.
Then it would fall to individual states to decide how to proceed, and most have not set rules for this situation.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/02/us/politics/trump-succession-constitution.html

[louis-t]

1. Run? He can barely walk.

[Cha]

2. Wouldn't they throw pence's name in there?

[LeftInTX]

6. It's a paywall article

The ballot will read: Trump or Trump/Pence...Pence would be the actual candidate. I guess that's why we have a Vice President!

It is not unusual for dead candidates to be a on a ballot! Everyone just hopes that dead guy doesn't get elected. If they do, there is usually a special election or the governor appoints.

[Cha]

9. TY!

[RazzleCat]

13. A dead man can run and win

it happened in Missouri. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_United_States_Senate_election_in_Missouri

[Mariana]

3. What would happen with the ballots already cast for him?

It wouldn't be right to just assign them to his Republican replacement - but on the other hand, we're actually voting for Electors, not the individual. What a mess it would be!

[LeftInTX]

4. I assume the ballots would just stay the same

It is not rare for dead candidates to be on a ballot.

The election occurs, and you just hope that they don't elect the dead guy. If the dead guy is elected, then a special election and/or appointment is held after the general election.

In Trump's case, it would defer to Pence since he is the VP. There cannot be an appointment or special election for POTUS. Pence would then select a VP after the election. At this point the name, "Trump" would be on almost every ballot in every state. Texas has already received their ballots.

The article is a paywall for me, so I can read what their saying, but this seems to be an exercise in hypotheticals, when in reality it is pretty cut and dry

[BigmanPigman]

7. Here's the rest of the article....

“It would be a question of what each state’s law says or doesn’t say about what happens in this eventuality, and many state laws are just silent on this possibility,” said Richard L. Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, who also discussed the issue on his Election Law blog. “So there may be questions about what to do.”

The question would become more complex if Mr. Trump won but was unable to serve. Some but not all states bind their electors to vote for whoever wins the state, but even most states with binding elector laws make no mention of what could happen should a candidate die or be unable to serve.

The question could be resolved by Congress, which certifies the Electoral College vote, or it could end up in the courts.

[The Genealogist]

8. "Still With Mel"

Missouri's own Mel Carnahan was killed in a plane crash not long before the Senate election of 2000. "Still with Mel" was then printed on bumper stickers. The late Carnahan went on to oust incumbent senator John Ashcroft. I still have the bumper sticker.

[RazzleCat]

14. I remember that. I joked how bad do you have to be to lose to a dead man

[The Genealogist]

16. Well, it was John Ashcroft

I think that speaks for itself.

[WheelWalker]

5. A mess, truly. We're in the middle of the election. Nearly 3,000,000 have been cast.

[Kaleva]

10. The MI ballot says "ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES"

We are voting for electors that will choose the slate of candidates we want. I voted for electors that will pick "Joseph R. Biden Kamala D. Harris".

[C_U_L8R]

11. Simple

Mitt Romney changes his name to Donald Trump.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. Two salient points from the article...

Pelosi is not necessarily the de facto president after Pence. There is a legal train of thought that only members of the Executive branch can be in the line of succession. Don't laugh-- this may be bullshit, but it has already developed enough to make it to a potential court challenge.

The other point is that with voting already started it's up to the states to come up with just who the electors will be voting for. Congress verifies the EC vote in December, but the states send them in. So far, no states have any sort of plan or procedure for what happens if Pres or Veep is not around.

Interesting discussions between the states and congress over just how to certify EC voting if one or more of the candidates cannot take office. Like if he's dead.

[Kaleva]

15. If Biden wins a majority of the electors, then this doesn't matter.

[TreasonousBastard]

17. Of course not-- the questions are if he doesn't.

[Blue_true]

19. Then we need to make sure that the question is irrelevant by voting. nt

[customerserviceguy]

18. The big mess could be

the possible scramble to take over as the GOP presidential nominee. I fully expect Mittens to make a try at it, and it will be Mormons vs. fundies like we saw in 2012.