State laws and party rules on replacing a presidential nominee, 2020
Date: November 3, 2020 |
 Donald Trump Joe Biden Howie Hawkins Jo Jorgensen
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This page covers the Democratic and Republican Party mechanisms and ballot considerations for replacing a presidential or vice presidential nominee in the 2020 presidential election.
It is rare for a candidate to drop out of the race between his or her formal nomination at a national convention and the general election. The last time a party replaced a candidate was 1972, when Democratic vice presidential nominee Thomas Eagleton withdrew after details about his prior mental health treatment were publicized.[1]
In 1912, Vice President James Sherman (R) died less than a week before the general election. The Republican National Committee initially planned to meet after the general election to name a replacement but declined to do so after President William Howard Taft (R) and Sherman lost. In Utah and Vermont, the only two states Taft and Sherman carried, eight Republican electors independently agreed to cast their votes for Nicholas Butler.[2]
Each party has its own process to select a replacement candidate. Each state also has its own process and deadline for ballot certification and printing. Given these deadlines, parties must also consider the election calendar to timely replace a candidate.
The 2020 election took place against a backdrop of uncertainty. Our readers had questions about what to expect in elections at all levels of government, from the casting of ballots to the certification of final results. Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk was designed to answer those questions.Click here to get answers to the most frequently asked questions related to the 2020 presidential election.
Democratic Party rules governing vacancies
- See also: Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
Under Article 2 of The Bylaws of the Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has the responsibility to fill vacancies in presidential and vice presidential nominations between national conventions.[3]
In the event of a vacancy on the national ticket, the chairperson would call a special meeting. Under Article 2 § 8(d), questions before the DNC, with some exceptions otherwise outlined in the charter and bylaws, are determined by a majority vote of the DNC members who are present and voting by proxy. The bylaws also state that voting to fill a vacancy on the national ticket must proceed in accordance with procedural rules adopted by the Rules and Bylaws Committee and approved by the DNC.[3]
Republican Party rules governing vacancies
Rule 9 of The Rules of the Republican Party provides guidance on how to fill presidential and vice presidential vacancies.[4]
It says that the Republican National Committee (RNC) is authorized to select the new candidate by majority vote or reconvening the national convention to fill the vacancy. In the former process, the three RNC members from each state—comprised of a state chair, a national committeeman, and a national committeewoman—would be able to cast the same number of votes as the entire delegation from that state to the convention.[4]
Under Rule 9(c), if the three RNC members did not all support the same candidate, their votes would be proportionately distributed.[4] For example, each RNC member would cast nine of Montana's 27 delegate votes.
Ballot access and vacancies for presidential candidates
Overview
States require political parties to submit names of presidential and vice presidential nominees and presidential electors in order to certify them for the general election ballot. Deadlines vary by state and are dependent on the election calendar, including early voting, voting by mail, and absentee voting considerations.
Nearly half of the states have a deadline in August, and most require certification or identification of a candidate to fill a vacancy no later than September 8.
Replacing a candidate's name on the ballot in September, therefore, becomes increasingly difficult as many states will have already printed ballots or begun to allow voters to cast ballots.
Deadlines
The following chart provides deadlines related to certifying presidential nominees or submitting a replacement presidential candidate, where available. These deadlines and notes were compiled by reviewing relevant state statutes and other government documents. All such information is subject to interpretation.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ NPR, "The Thomas Eagleton Affair Haunts Candidates Today," August 4, 2020
- ↑ Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, "Presidential Death During the Election Process," accessed August 31, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Democratic National Committee, "The Charter & The Bylaws of the Democratic Party of the United States," August 25, 2018
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Republican Party, "Rules of the Republican Party," July 20, 2018
