by Mary W Maxwell, PhD, LLB
The dates to note here are:
November 4, 2020: announcement of the election results
December 14, 2020: balloting by the 538 members of the Electoral College (Note: To win, a majority of 538, namely 270 electoral votes, is needed.)
January 3, 2021: the new Congress convenes
January 6, 2021: opening of Electoral College’s ballots in Congress to see who won
January 20, 2021 at noon: inauguration of president.
Death, Impeachment, or Incapacity
During the period from today until January 20, there is no question as to who the president is. It is Trump. But he could die, resign, be impeached, or have the “incapacity” clause of the Twenty-fifth Amendment used to remove him from office.
If Trump dies, resigns, or is impeached, the VP, Mike Pence automatically becomes president. If President Trump is incapacitated, Pence becomes acting president until Trump returns to office.
If Pence, while he is Acting President, dies or is impeached, the usual Order of Succession applies. Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House, is first in line and Chuck Grassley as President Pro Tempore of the Senate is second. Other persons in the order of succession are members of Cabinet, in the order of when that cabinet post was created, starting with Secretary of State, of Treasury, of Defense, and Attorney General.
Currently that would be Mike Pompeo, Steven Mnuchin, Mark Esper, and William Barr. If any of them failed to have eligibility to be president (born in US, lived here 14 years, and minimum age 35) they will be skipped over.
Between now and January 20th, if Vice President Pence dies, the president could leave the office of VP vacant, or can nominate a new VP, subject to majority vote by both houses of Congress. (So says the Amendment XXV, which was ratified in 1967.)
Death (or Withdrawal) of a Candidate before December 14, 2020 – the Day the Electoral College Meets
Now for a different matter. What if any of the four candidates dies, or withdraws their candidacy, during the period from today until the Electoral College meets on December 14, 2020? How does it affect the choice of who gets the presidency or vice-presidency?
Take Joe Biden as the example. If he dies before the general election of November 3, I believe it would be up to the Democratic Party in each state to alter the ballot with a new name. Granted, it was the party at its national convention that nominated Biden, but all elections are run by states.
(The public is confused about this. Yes, Congress has passed laws about campaign finance. But the Constitution does not make any provision for a federal control of presidential “elections,” whether at the primaries, the summer conventions, or the November voting. The only way we get our presidents, constitutionally, is via the Electoral College.)
Note that a state legislature can always repeal its own Acts. Even at this late day, any state can make new law as to the November election. It can also say that mail-in votes will be treated in such-and-such manner. Don’t wait for the “White House” to dictate on that. It is NOT a federal matter.
For the other three candidates — Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, or Donald Trump — the same ballot-altering described above for Biden is true: if they die before the November 3, 2020 general election, their Party would provide a substitute name on the ballot (or by public announcement). Every ballot has space for write-ins.
The Electoral College
What if the death of a candidate occurs after November 3, but before December 14, 2020? That is the day that the electors meet locally (I mean in their state), to cast a ballot for president and vice president (two separate pieces of paper, none of this “running mate” ticket business).
In some states (18 of them), all electors are given their head. Each one of them can make up his/her mind as to who should be president, limited only to choosing eligible “natural-born” citizens, age 35, and up with 14 years residence in US. (They can vote for a baseball champ.)
The same is true when they cast their ballot for a vice president. Hence, in those states, if any of the famous four candidates has died, it won’t cause a problem for Electors. See?
In the other states (32), state laws have said that the electors must be “faithful” to the way the general election went. Say Alabama brought in a majority vote for Trump on November 3, but he resigned or died on December 7, you would have to see if there is a state law holding the elector to a substitute furnished by the Party.
Can’t electors from those 32 states just use the old bean? They probably can, in such a rare event as a death. In 1912, the sitting vice president, James Sherman, died a week before the general election, so there was no living VP candidate among Republicans.
The Party, however, had time to designate Nicholas Butler as the recipient of any electoral votes slated for the deceased Sherman. (I say “Party,” but Electors took their instructions from their state, I believe.)
Supreme Court Rulings on Electoral College’s Freedom
As recently as July 2020, there was a US Supreme Court decision, in Baca v Colorado, about the freedom of electors, in one of the 32 states that do not allow freedom. An elector in Colorado, Michael Baca, was sent by his Democrat Party to vote for Hillary Clinton. (I mean “sent to” his state’s meeting of the College.)
On arrival, he pulled a trick and voted for a Republican. Colorado then canceled Baca’s “faithless” vote and replaced it with a vote for Hillary.
Baca took the matter to court. In 2019, the US 10th Circuit Court (beats me why the federal courts were involved) agreed that Baca should have had freedom. However, in July 2020, the US Supreme Court overturned that in a 9-0 decision. It ruled Colorado could cancel Baca’s vote.
Professor Lawrence Lessig had sought SCOTUS’ attention over the fact that the 10th Circuit in Baca said the opposite of what Washington State Supreme Court said on the matter of electors’ discretion in Chiafalo v State of Washington. Lessig had hoped for a decision favoring discretion but was glad at least that the 9-0 ruling in Baca means that there will not be a constitutional crisis over that issue in 2020.
Happily, twenty-two states filed as amici, in Chiafalo, encouraging SCOTUS to make a ruling rather than let it “percolate” (as the Washington Supreme Court had recommended!)
Getting around the Media’s Control
Personally, I think freedom of electors is good, despite obvious potential for bribery. I live on the dream that we are an intelligent people who can actually mull over the question of who will make a good president. In the Federalist Papers, written in the 1780s — to get folks to ratify the Constitution — Alexander Hamilton suggested:
“It was desirable that the sense of the people should operate in the choice of the person. … [The] election should be made by men … acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation …. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens … will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.” (Federalist 68)
By the 20th century, big money, party loyalty, and especially big media, were obstacles to “circumstances favorable to deliberation.” Note: the Baca ruling does not take away the freedom of electors in the 18 freedom states, and other states can always become freedom states.
What If a Candidate Dies after December 14, but before Electoral Votes are Counted on January 6, 2021?
For this example, say it is Kamala Harris who dies. Say she had won the vice-presidency at the general election of November 3 and her electors were all faithful and cast their votes at the College for her on December 14, 2020. But on New Year’s Day 2021, she passes away (or withdraws).
The Constitution, in its Twelfth Amendment, calls for the Elector’s ballots to be opened very formally on January 6 in Congress. The teller who counts the votes would see, for example, 280 VP ballots for Harris. Those would have to be set aside as not-usable.
The very fact that the Democrats had got 280 VP votes tells you they got roughly 280 also for President, so Biden gets wins the White House. Subtracting 280 from the total of 538 electors tells you that Republicans got, at most, 258. So Pence has no chance at the VP job.
Wait a minute! Technically he does have a chance. Since no living person got 270 ballots for VP, the VP vote is going to be done by the Senate. (Per Amendment XII, when no presidential hopeful gets 270, the choice will be made on January 6th by the House of Reps, with one vote coming from each state’s delegation. For VP, it is in the hands of the Senate.)
The Senate must sit until they can declare a winner. Can they pick someone who was never in the race? Let’s say the teller reports 280 for the (no longer alive) Kamala Harris and 258 for the (still alive) Mike Pence. And a few other votes – from the 18 “freedom” states – two for Tulsi Gabbard and five for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Per the Constitution’s Amendment XII, Clause 3:
“The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed [270], and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators [67] , and a majority of the whole number [34] shall be necessary to a choice….”
The Senators on January 6 will not be exactly the ones we have now in October, because 33 senate seats are to be contested on November 3. The date of the arrival of the newbies and the oldbies on Capitol Hill is January 3, 2021. As stated, 34 senate votes have to go to one lucky person — or more, up to 51, if there is a full chamber that day.
Let’s pretend it is a full house and that the Democrats have 51 senators. But they are not legally bound to vote for a person from their own party. Probably they would be disinclined to create Pence as Biden’s VP (although they could do so). So it’s likely to go to Andrew Cuomo. Why not Tulsi Gabbard? Because the Twelfth Amendment limits the voting to the two highest vote-getters and these were Pence [258] and Cuomo [5].
Excuse me for these morbid examples. Biden, Trump, Pence, and Harris are not ill, and it is very likely all four candidates will make it to January 20th. I have constructed this article out of a wish to show that all possibilities are catered for, and there’s no reason to say we will have troops on the street due to a dog fight over the presidency.
I also want to say DO NOT GET CAUGHT UP IN TREASONOUS TALK ABOUT “CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT.” If you hear anyone say “COG,” that should make you very suspicious of a coup d’etat. Our Constitution is just fine, thank you.
In fact, it is so fine that I will conclude by saying that even if there is a death after January 6, but before January 20th, the Constitution kicks in again. A death of president-elect Biden (I am using my example where he won) would send us to the Twentieth Amendment, section 3:
“If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect [Biden] shall have died, the Vice President elect [Cuomo] shall become President.”
And there you have it. A person whose hat is not even in the ring today — such as Cuomo, but really any American of suitable age — could be inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
Did you really have to post a picture of Ho Harris for the article? I can’t stand to look at ‘it’.
Me too.
OK, I am going to swap Cuomo pix for Harris. But this “author caving in to pressure” is not to be precedent-setting, OK?
Do we all understand that?
Ha, we do. And for the ‘Pinocchio’ version of Harris, click here.https://gumshoenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/img_2fixed.jpg
https://www.bitchute.com/video/GP6mApouvAw/
The BIDEN CRIME FAMILY is a grave DANGER to America
https://www.brighteon.com/2530edf6-654e-4bd3-bad0-3444716aba55
BOMBSHELL: Hunter Biden, Joe Biden built an international crime syndicate with ties to human trafficking organizations, prostitution, money laundering, bribery and extortion
https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-09-23-hunter-biden-international-crime-syndicate-human-trafficking-money-laundering-bribery.html
COUP-IN-PROGRESS: Pelosi, the Mafia and the Black Nobility
The PELOSI CONSPIRACY:
New World Order Globalist Cabal using Deep State to execute a coup behind the coup
https://crazzfiles.com/coup-in-progress-pelosi-the-mafia-and-the-black-nobility/
Thanks Dee, the more they try to censor, the more people start paying attention – ‘Streisland effect’
Harris, the pick of Soros. Crikey, that should be a wake-up call to the people. https://newsthud.com/george-soros-son-congratulates-harris-calls-her-our-future-vice-president/
I bet Crazy Nancy has a very long list drawn up already for presidential pardons in case someone can be successful in bumping off Trump and Pence, even longer than Bill Clinton’s list was.
And, is the Biden’s pedogate even survivable ???
Is this going to go off like a bomb in a week or so ???
???
This whole American election thing is beyond bizarre. Biden/Harris? are you kidding me. I saw the report of a NON-MSM poll and it indicated 87% vote for Trump. – Hell, I can believe that.
I also saw a Biden/Harris campaign button – “Pee Pads/Biden – Knee pads/Harris”
Now with the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop going mainstream, like what the Hell? What is the Democrat’s Plan B? What is their secret maneuver that will deliver the victory? – Or, is it just like it seems, a complete fustercluck.
I know things have gone insane, but it is still hard to try and keep up with it all.
What is Biden is caught leaking secrets to China?
Leaking secrets to China is so very ‘Clinton’, Biden appears to be up to his neck in ‘pay to play’ with his son working as the middleman to arrange the meetings. The lap top appears to have lots of emails to support those allegations (why are so many dumb-asses doing dodgy things by email, on their laptops? Gawd damn, you know they must be stupid). The more sensational aspects of the laptop is the pedophilia issue. Apparently, there are heaps of photos/videos of not just violent pedophilia, but of HUNTER engaged in those acts.
Twitter banned an Republican African American’s tweets when he was punched by Antifa — knocking his teeth out. The DID NOT ALLOW an African American to freely express the violence against him.
A hospital in regional New Hampshire has just declared bankruptcy. I don’t know if Covid did it.
Coup d’etat?
I got this from Andi V at rumormillnews.com
“Therefore, be it finally resolved that the Rochester Labor Council, AFL-CIO calls on the National AFL-CIO, all of its affiliate unions, and all other labor organizations in the United States of America to prepare for and enact a general strike of all working people, if necessary, to ensure a Constitutionally mandated peaceful transition of power as a result of the 2020 Presidential Elections.”
“[This] may be the first out of the gate to call for direct action over concerns many share: will there be a peaceful transfer of power after the November election? Will votes be fairly counted, and will the outcome be determined by the voters—not the courts?”
“peaceful transition of power as a result of the 2020 Presidential Elections” – what the Hell does that mean? If Trump is re-elected, as it appears he will be, there WON’T be a transition of power.
Perhaps all the ‘soft coup’ of Russia Gate, Stormy Daniels, Gen. Flynn, yadda, yadda, isn’t working, so then there must be a more violent/BLM/Antifa/libtard ‘revolution’ to get the transition to a more viable president, like a Soros approved Ho Harris.
Democrat swamp in a state of terror, they will be drained, as for the rest, who knows.
More clues
From Lynette Zang – Pandemic is a great cover for a financial system reset
Around 45:00
IMF report “Keep things as normal as possible so that people can’t tell that everything has changed” (ie counterfeit money)
This video has an index table so you can skip some of the shop talk.
Terry, what do you mean by ‘if Trump is re-elected, as it appears he will be’ ?
Are you privy to some Powers-That-Be back room deal that’s relayed the result to you ?
As readers may have noticed, I’ve been calling a Biden victory. (Not that I favour either minion of the cabal – I despise them both with a passion).
I’m hoping for a Biden victory because it will ensure a more rapid collapse of the U.S hegemon – we’re splitting hairs here seeing as Trump is doing a damn good job at destroying the economy but Biden will achieve it a few months sooner.
Bottom Line: It doesn’t make a rat’s arse worth of difference what a particular pundit is calling on the election outocme or that poll is forecasting, because the people’s will has NO BEARING in the election.
It’s all RIGGED.
The candidate that the cabal have preselected will carry the day.
Trump has done everything asked of him so there’s every reason he’ll get the nod.
That said, Biden has also committed himself to Zio-prostration and can therefore match Trump and RAISE the ante by enacting his Climate Action / New Green deal equivalent policy of spending additional trillions on Green Energy initiatives that will enrich his donor base.
That’s why I think Biden will get the nod.
Don’t worry if the current stars have to withdraw, someone or another has thought of the agenda.
Still safe after nearly 250 years of the show having to continue.
The Simpson’s latest prediction: Trump death – YouTube
Mary, what’s with the ‘Must-Be-U.S-born-to-be-President’ stipulation, seeing as Ted Cruz who was in the running for the Republican nomination in 2016, was born in Canada ?
(No, not a rumour like with Obama’s birth certificate etc but something even acknowledged by Cruz himself).
Meanwhile, Republican candidate for the 2008 election John McCain was born in ….. wait for it ….. Panama.
OK, the last one I have an explanation for but not so for Ted Cruz.
Please enlighten.
Cruz was born to a US citizen momsie, therefore did not have to be “naturalised” to become a US citizen. Hence he is natural born, though brandishes a Canadian birth certificate.
Who’s to say that he won’t emerge as a hopeful after Dec 14? I named Cuomo but that was just to show how unable we are, at this point, to know who will ascend the throne on Jan 20.
Why not sing along?
Trump Plots to Kill President Assad, Sends Him Top Delegation Asking for Help!
“…………President Assad has turned down previous pleas to talk by Donald Trump, one of those pleas was reported by Trump’s former national security advisor Bolton who described the ill-language used by Trump in addressing the Syrian leadership.
Why would Syria accept to help the USA or its president, when the US occupies parts of Syria, helps Israel occupy the Syrian Golan, helps Turkey invade large parts of northern Syria, supports terrorist groups including ISIS in Syria, steals Syrian oil, plots to kill the Syrian president, and imposes inhumane sanctions on the country?! The USA is not that strong, especially in our region, and Syria is not that weak, at all, despite the decade-long war of terror waged against it by the world’s superpowers and super-rich countries.
The source added, as per Al Watan Newspaper: ‘The visiting delegation were surprised to face the same position of Damascus rejecting any discussion or cooperation with Washington before discussing the US troops withdrawal from Syria.’……………..
https://www.syrianews.cc/trump-plots-to-kill-president-assad-sends-him-top-delegation-asking-for-help/
Amazing Polly delivers gems as always!
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – “we didn’t love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation…We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward” Personally I’d rather wake up (in a FEMA camp?) after a sound sleep, knowing I did what I could – whether that be defy the tyrannical bureaucrats or simply spread the word, labelled a nutter, in desperation to get the sheeple out of their slumber – than toss & turn in guilt of acquiescence & apathy. (sleep deprivation is a torturous death – think of those poor animals subjected to EMF (5Gee?))
How sad it is, that we “down in the lucky country” no longer appreciate the freedom for which our forefathers fought.. so few have even noticed it slipping away, happy to exchange for safety, security, hand-outs…
If we don’t fight now, when it is still relatively easy, it will indeed be our funeral.
Holding on to your integrity and giving up on manners is spot on – this is a fight for humanity, so I say: too bad for the ‘precious’, and beggar the “don’t rock the boat” people!
Egregious behaviour should never be ignored – join ranks to stop this stupidity and attempted tyrannical take-over. Dare to defy their petty ‘regulations’ – compliance gives ‘them’ power to drive in the next nail in ‘our’ coffin! Which is likely their AI mandatory vax.
Polly quotes from Hannah Arendt’s 1951 book the origins of Totalitarianism – “terror can rule absolutely only over men who are isolated against each other” so a tyrannical govt will seek to do this, because isolated men are powerless by definition. Are people even realising that under the BS CV-19, this is precisely what the regulations are doing? “There are none so blind as those who will not see” – John Heywood, 1546.
Much advice from many directions now about defeating this evil with positive spiritual cohesion.. THANK YOU Polly!
I still won’t wear a mask or sign in for contact tracing. I tell people the difference in ‘testing’ and ‘dying’ and about drugs that work (Invermectin, HCQ). – However, my wife watches TV all day, so she has a different view on this Plandemic. It makes for an interesting conversation at times…
The conversations I have with the odd person out and about indicates more distrust in the ‘narrative’. Now people are more willing to express themselves. There’s still plenty of ‘mask-holes’ walking around when I go into ‘town’, but less than I used to see.
It was slow to begin with, but the pace of people awakening is increasing.
The following is an analysis of Trump’s four years in office from one of the world’s great financial commentators (Bill Bonner) – and a pretty astute politically to boot :
“In 2016, Mr Trump set forth a set of goals and promises, somewhat incoherent, but which could be broadly summarised as follows…
1) Build a wall (widely interpreted as a metaphor for tighter border controls, less immigration, and more protection for native-born Americans)…
2) Pull out of the unwinnable, imperial wars in the MidEast…
3) Reduce the trade deficit (and thereby favour domestic manufacturers)…
4) Drain the swamp (that is, reduce the ‘permanent government’ of lobbyists, cronies, hacks, and has-beens, aka the deep state)…
5) Put China in her place…
6) ‘Repeal and replace’ Obamacare…
7) Balance the budget and pay off the federal debt…
And let’s not forget my favourite (ie: appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton).”
CONCLUSION : “As near as we can tell, at least superficially, all were failures.
There is no wall. The forever wars continue. The trade deficit is higher than ever. The swamp is deeper than ever. China is stronger than ever. Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) is still the law of the land. The budget is more out of balance than ever. And the federal debt is greater than ever.”
[AND ….. Hillary is as free as a bird and living the good life].
Bonner goes on to add this :
“Meanwhile, he [Trump] keeps doing his tough-guy act, threatening even more forever wars with Iran and China.
Trying to revive manufacturing in the US was a good idea. But Mr Trump never understood what had caused its death in the first place.
And he surrounded himself with incompetents and nitwits, such as Peter Navarro, and wasted his time renegotiating trade deals…rather than attacking the real source of the problem — the US’ fake money system.
It’s easier to print dollars than to make automobiles or TV screens. So, Americans pay in dollars…and let foreigners do the hard work.
This year, the dollars gushed like never before. Between the Federal Reserve and the deficits, there was almost $6 trillion in potential extra liquidity.
What happened? Did entrepreneurs rush to build factories, hire machinists, or compete with the foreigners? No, they bought more stuff from overseas…and the trade deficit swelled to a new record.
Drain the swamp? There might have been a little evaporation early on as a number of regulations were cut back. But then, the swamp got two major floods of greasy cash.
First, the trade wars themselves were worth hundreds of billions to the swamp critters.
Tariffs brought endless litigation and non-stop lobbying…as companies had to angle for special subsidies, dispensations, exclusions, and the like.
Then came the biggest swamp-filler ever: COVID-19. As the bug approached, The Donald was bamboozled by his own public health apparatchiks.
Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx, and Robert Redfield — all are on his payroll. They’re part of the executive branch; as chief executive, HE is their boss.
As soon as it became clear that the coronavirus was not a threat to the nation, approximately a week after he issued his ‘national emergency’ declaration in mid-March, the president should have fired them all and gotten a new team.
Instead, the ‘Coronavirus Cavalry’ ran roughshod over the Constitution and the economy…stifling the lives of 300 million in order, supposedly, to protect the 30 million who were actually at risk.”
For those who think I’ve dredged up a left leaning Democrat to smear Trump, you could not be more wrong.
Bill Bonner is a fabulously successful businessman and free market capitalist. His political leanings would be classified as traditionally Republican – as per the days (long gone) when Republicans were small government, fiscally responsible entities that lived within their means – as opposed to the neo-Marxist socialists that rule the roost nowadays.
All in all, a sad indictment of Trump’s first term – basically a wasted 4 years.