If not reelected, the president becomes a private citizen on that day. So who then serves as president? The Constitution provides no solid answer. Unlike when a president is impeached or dies, there is no set succession plan for a situation with no election. But if there is no election, there is no president elect nor vice president elect.
This also does not appear to encompass the absence of an election. However, even if Congress has the authority to fill this gap in the Constitution, it is unclear that it has done so with the existing law, because the line of succession begins with the House speaker. But there would be no House speaker if there were no election, because there would be no House, all of whose members would be up for election in November. The terms of all members of the House would end, as stated in the Constitution, on January 3.
There would, however, be a Senate, with a majority of its members not up for election in November and, therefore, still serving their terms. This is important as the next in line would be the president pro tempore of the Senate, which is Charles Grassley.
In , Harry Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act that stands today: Now, the speaker of the House is first in line for the presidency, followed by the president pro tempore of the Senate and the members of the Cabinet in order of when their department was established. The distinction is key, he says; Trump is likely to continue to claim victory even after leaving office so as to keep a strong connection to his supporters—and potentially stage a comeback in Pildes argues that this ambiguity does not imply a failure of the legal system that the framers put in place.
Douglas agrees, noting that every legal system relies on a system of norms—such as conceding defeat and the peaceful transition of power—in order to exist. If enough people stop buying into those norms, it can corrode the system. National Geographic National Geographic. By Amy McKeever. Published 20 Nov , GMT. A four-year term with a hard end date The length of the presidential term was the subject of vigorous debate at the Constitutional Convention in What that means for On January 20, , the winner of the election will be sworn in.
The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution requires that each new Congress convene on January 3, unless the previous Congress passed a law that set a different date. If a new Congress has not been sworn in by January 20, there would be no serving House. There would be a partial Senate, however, made up of the 65 senators whose seats were not up for election.
After the speaker of the House, the next in line to serve as president is the president pro tempore of the Senate. In a partial Senate, Democrats would hold a majority with 35 seats and control the chamber.
The most senior member of the majority party—Sen. Pat Leahy D-Vt. A third possibility is that a partial new Congress would be sworn in while the rest of the election results were being finalized.
There is no precedent for this, and it is unclear how it would operate. Any of these situations would likely lead to court challenges. The nearest the U. In that year, several southern states had contested vote counts and sent multiple slates of electors. A special Electoral Commission set up by Congress decided the election three days before Inauguration Day. That case went to the Supreme Court, which issued their ruling on December The election took place against a backdrop of uncertainty.
A candidate must receive at least 51 votes a majority of Senators to be elected. A tie is a statistically remote possibility, even in smaller States, and would not be known until late November or early December, after a recount and after the Secretary of State for the State had certified the election results. Following the November election, one candidate for a Virginia House of Delegates seat was ahead by two 2 votes. Since the results were so close, there was a recount which found that one 1 vote had been miscounted.
After the recount, the candidates had the same number of votes. Following State law, they drew lots for a winner. The candidates put their names on individual pieces of paper and put the pieces in a bowl. A neutral third party pulled a name out of the bowl and that candidate was declared the winner. A very close finish could also result in a run-off election or legal action to decide the winner.
Just like a tie, State law determines how the winner is decided, and would be conclusive in determining the selection of electors. The law provides that if States have laws to determine controversies or contests as to the selection of electors, those determinations must be completed at least six days before the meeting of the electors.
The objection must be made in writing and signed by at least one Senator and one member of the House of Representatives. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives debate the objection separately. Debate is limited to two hours. After the debate, both the Senate and the House of Representatives rejoin and both must agree to reject the votes. After debate, the Senate and the House failed to agree to reject the votes.
Uniformed Services include the U. For more information, visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program web site. Can citizens of U.
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