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Is there an explicit law that you can reject being elected President (in the US)? If so, which law? Question
In the following scenario:
A person is not running for President of the U.S. Somehow, they receive a large number of votes as a write-in candidate, and secure the election victory. They decline to accept the position.
How does the American legal framework handle the situation?
Does the election victory go to the runner-up?
If the procedure were ambiguous, would the proper action be decided by the Senate or Supreme Court?
1 answer
The public votes in November. The results are publicized shortly thereafter. Then the electoral college has the real vote in December.
If you were elected against your will, you would probably find out in November, and your unwillingness would probably become known to electors before they vote.
In states where it's allowed, the electors would probably just vote for someone else, since there is little point in electing a candidate who doesn't want to serve. In states where it's not allowed, they may be able to still vote for someone else by constructing an argument that unwillingness is as inability. But then again, the candidate could have a change of heart after being elected, so that argument is not so robust. In principle, if you managed to win in the right states (the ones that forbid faithless electors) and did this, it could trigger a crisis, but it would probably be resolved by an emergency court ruling allowing the electors to vote for someone else.
If the electoral college really elected you against your will, you could simply resign. Your VP would succeed you.
- https://abcnews.go.com/538/biden-trump-suddenly-leaves-2024-race/story?id=106136493
- https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-happens-if-a-presidential-nominee-can-no-longer-run-for-office/
- https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/12/politics/presidential-candidate-race-drop-what-matters/index.html
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