Until the candidates are placed on the ballot election law does not apply, only the Constituional requirements. In the case of Eagleton and Shriver in 72 the DNC met and made the choice of Shriver which was honored by all 50 states. Remember that federal election law is limited. The Constitution gives to the legislatures of the several states the duty of choosing the means for selecting electors. The Constitution apportions electoral votes per state, but the states decide how to apply them. Two states, Maine and one other give the winner the two electoral votes representing the senators and apportion the remainde by who won the congressional districts.
I thought the absentee ballots were already made up but may be wrong. Either way, we're getting close to the wire. Kerry's personality will not allow him to back down because he believes he deserves to be commander in chief and that the public will love him when they get to know him - which the public DOES NOT, according to Kerry's own campaign. In addition, a last minute switch at this point in US history will be the last straw and will trigger a NASTY backlash. Kerry is upset that 'Nam vets don't universally love him?? He hasn't succeeded in taking away our 2nd Amendments rights yet, and we would be looking at one reason the 2nd Amendment was written as it was into the Constitution.
Their goal is a BLOODLESS coup, not getting themselves whacked by sniper fire or the myriad other ways in which they might be caused to shed their precious blood. They want power...combined with personal safety. Minimal physical risk. They may TALK the talk but they know the mood of the country has been hanging on a thread of REAL revolution since 9/11/01. I've been trying to explain this since the Clinton era. They have become terrified of Mainstream America in the past few years. I can't be any plainer.