Economic meltdown leads to anarchy and chaos which requires martial law to control...........Marx-Lenin-Alinsky model........
A major economic crash may well lead to sporadic violence, if not anarchy. But martial law would still be almost impossible to impose on a national basis, short of an absolute catastrophe (multiple simultaneous nuclear detonations, i.e. - TEOTWAWKI). Short of such a horror, it would be almost impossible for the Federal government to persuade state legislatures to cancel the elections in the fall. The Alinsky model does apply however, in using Progressive organizations to militate for increased government power and control over people and property.