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To: The Pack Knight; PJ-Comix
I posted this article about a month ago.

In short...

October/early November

In October, especially later in the month, and in early November (before November 8), the situation would have become significantly more complicated. At this point, nearly all ballot certification deadlines would have passed, many ballots were printed, and voters in some states had already cast their ballots.

This begs the question: What happens if a candidate has dropped out of the race but wins the popular vote in a state? Would the replacement nominee just receive those electoral votes? The answer lies in what that state has to say about its electors in the electoral college. The Constitution does not dictate how electors must cast their votes. But some states do. More than half the states have laws dictating how electors must vote. If the former nominee won in a state that does not have a law on how its electors vote, then, theoretically, he or she could win all of that state's electoral votes. But if the former nominee won in a state that does have a law on how its electors vote, then one would have to look at that law's fine print to see what would happen and if the state's electoral votes could go to the replacement nominee.

Examples of state laws on presidential electors

  • Michigan: "Refusal or failure to vote for the candidates for president and vice-president appearing on the Michigan ballot of the political party which nominated the elector constitutes a resignation from the office of elector, his vote shall not be recorded and the remaining electors shall forthwith fill the vacancy." (Michigan State Statute 168.47)
  • Florida: "Each such elector shall be a qualified elector of the party he or she represents who has taken an oath that he or she will vote for the candidates of the party that he or she is nominated to represent." (Florida State Statute 103.021)
  • Colorado: "Each presidential elector shall vote for the presidential candidate and, by separate ballot, vice-presidential candidate who received the highest number of votes at the preceding general election in this state." (Colorado State Statute 1.4.304)

74 posted on 09/19/2020 3:49:02 PM PDT by DoodleBob (Gravity's waiting period is about 9.8 m/s^2)
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To: DoodleBob

Interesting. So in the examples you present, electors in Michigan and Colorado are required to vote for the candidate that appeared on the ballot. In Florida, the electors are required to vote for “the candidate of the party”, which could give leeway to vote for a replacement as long as that replacement becomes “the candidate of the party”.


79 posted on 09/19/2020 3:56:00 PM PDT by CA Conservative (Texan by birth, Californian by circumstance)
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