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Democrats rush to decide Biden’s political future before it plunges into murky legal territory (NBC)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/democrats-rush-decide-bidens-political-future-plunges-murky-legal-terr-rcna162486?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us
Party rules make it virtually impossible to replace Biden unless he steps aside. But some Democratic leaders have been delivering “blunt” messages to Biden about his political standing and the broader implications for the party if he remains the nominee.
If Biden were to step aside now, it could get messy, but the rules are clear: Whoever wins the majority of the voting convention delegates wins the nomination.
If Biden dropped out of the race after being formally named the nominee, the rules cover that, too. A group of Democratic Party leaders would meet to recommend a replacement, and under current rules, a majority of Democratic National Committee members — not convention delegates — would need to vote to approve it.
Where state law takes over from party rules
But once state ballot certification and printing deadlines come into play, that whole process gets remarkably more complicated — particularly after a convention toward the end of August.
Each state has different rules governing when its general election ballot is certified; what, if any, scenarios allow for a party to replace its nominee on that ballot; and even whether a candidate who has withdrawn (or died) is eligible to win votes at all.
On top of that, there’s another complicating factor: “faithless electors” laws on the books in more than 30 states and the District of Columbia.
Those laws were generally written to ensure that the voters in the Electoral College, which technically elects the president, reflect the will of the people in each state, so the electors can’t freelance by voting for someone else. In some cases, these laws could provide a lifeline for a political party whose presidential candidate couldn’t be placed on the ballot in time. But in others, the law could prevent a presidential elector from voting for anyone except their party’s listed candidate on the ballot — even if that candidate has already withdrawn from the race.