LegiStorm

Summary:

What would happen in 2016 if a candidate for President or Vice President were to die or leave the ticket any time between the national party conventions and the November 8 election day? What would happen if this occurred during presidential transition, either between election day and the December 19, 2016, meeting of the electoral college; or between December 19 and the inauguration of the President and Vice President on January 20, 2017? Procedures to fill these vacancies differ depending on when they occur. During the Election Campaign—Between the National Party Nominating Conventions and the Election. After the conventions, which are usually held in July or August, and election day, November 8 in 2016, political party rules apply. For the Democrats, the Democratic National Committee would select a replacement; for the Republicans, the Republican National Committee would select replacement, or it could reconvene the national convention to perform this task. Between the Election and the Electoral College Meeting. On election day, voters choose members of the electoral college, which formally selects the President- and Vice President-elect several weeks later (December 19 in 2016). Although the transition has begun, party rules still apply: a replacement candidate would be chosen by the national committees of either party, or by a reassembled Republican National Convention. Between the Electoral College Meeting and Inauguration. The balance of scholarly opinion holds that the President- and Vice President-elect are chosen once the electoral votes are cast. The electoral votes are counted and declared by a joint session of Congress, held January 6 of the year following the election, although Congress occasionally sets a different date for the joint session. During this period, succession is covered by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution: if the President-elect dies, the Vice President-elect becomes President-elect. Although the amendment does not specifically address the issues of disability, disqualification, or resignation during this period, its language, “failure to qualify,” could arguably be interpreted to cover such contingencies. Vacancies in the position of Vice President-elect are not mentioned in the 20th Amendment; they would be covered after the inauguration by the 25th Amendment. If no person qualifies as President or Vice President by inauguration day, then the Succession Act (3 U.S.C. 19) applies: the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and duly confirmed Cabinet officers, in that order, would act as President. Following the events of September 11, 2001, concern about the possibility of terrorist attacks at the inauguration led to proposals to safeguard the line of presidential succession during the swearing-in ceremony, especially during a change of administrations. Most involve a “designated survivor,” a constitutionally eligible successor who would stay away from the ceremony in order to safeguard continuity in the office of the President. One option would be for an elected official in the line of succession, such as the Speaker of the House of Representatives or President protempore of the Senate, to be absent from the ceremony. During a change of administrations, a Cabinet secretary of the new administration could be confirmed by the Senate and installed prior to the inauguration, or a Cabinet secretary from the outgoing administration could remain in office until after the inauguration. In either case, the designated survivor would be absent from the ceremony. Related precautions have been taken since the presidential inauguration of 2009. In that year, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, a George W. Bush appointee who remained in office in the Barrack H. Obama Administration, did not attend the inauguration ceremony. In 2013, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki stayed away from the swearing-in.