Legal challenges to Biden’s withdrawal would face difficulties

President Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 race could spark legal challenges in some states as a wave of Democrats begin to line up behind Vice President Harris, though legal experts say such challenges are likely to be fruitless.

“Before the media starts rolling, let me be clear: the Democratic presidential nominee will be on all 50 state ballots,” Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias wrote on Twitter. the social platform shortly after Biden’s announcement. “There is no basis for any legal challenge. Period.”

Biden said Sunday he was dropping his re-election bid after weeks of mounting pressure from his own party, which questioned his fitness for office. Not long after making his stunning announcement while isolated in Rehoboth Beach, Del., because of COVID-19, he endorsed his vice president as his successor, and other prominent Democrats soon followed suit.

However, with less than a month until the Democratic National Convention, top Republicans have warned that a late-stage switch could raise legal questions in some states where Biden was chosen as the candidate by primary voters.

“Each state has its own system, and in some states you can’t just switch a candidate,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.” just before Biden bowed. outside.

Johnson’s comments echo a June memo by the Heritage Foundation, arguing that removing Biden from the ballot could provoke “pre-election litigation” in several states, which could make the change “difficult and perhaps unsuccessful.”

The memo points to laws in states like Wisconsin It is South Carolina, which says party nominees cannot be removed for political reasons or reasons other than death. Also examines state laws in Georgia, Nevada It is Texas with specific warnings for replacing presidential candidates.

Derek Muller, a professor at Notre Dame Law School, said any such challenge would fail because no Democratic presidential candidate has been formally nominated by the party yet. Heritage’s own memo admits that it “does not address presidential election procedures,” he noted.

“This convention nomination process is really the key to unlocking access to the ballot box in the United States,” Muller said.

Although voters expect delegates to select their chosen candidate, those delegates are not required to do so. More than 3,800 delegates were promised to Biden, but the Democratic National Committee decides don’t specifically require them vote for him – in other words, there is nothing stopping these delegates from now voting for Harris.

Some state officials are already trying to quell concerns that Biden’s departure from the Democratic ticket could cause chaos at state polls. Gabriel Sterling, director of operations for the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, said Monday on X that Biden’s withdrawal “would have no impact on the Georgia vote” because “there is no ‘candidate’ to replace.”

If Republicans wanted to process change, they would likely have to wait until the Democratic Party made its formal nomination at the convention — and would face a greater chance of success if they focused on the timing of choosing an official candidate rather than the actual selection. .

If Harris struggles to win the nomination, state deadlines for getting a candidate on the ballot could run out. Democrats were already planning to hold a virtual roll call vote on August 1, before the convention, to get around potential problems with Ohio’s deadline, and they could face similar problems in states like Washington if they wait until their actual convention, University of California, Los Angeles professor Rick Hasen wrote mea blog post.

“Democrats would be smart to still hold that virtual call by August 7 if they had united behind Vice President Kamala Harris or another candidate,” Hasen wrote. “This would avoid even the small risk of a serious lawsuit.”

The Republican Party could have faced a similar scenario at its own convention if the assassination attempt on former President Trump at a campaign rally earlier this month – where a bullet went through his ear but left him unharmed – had been successful, he said. Muller. Trump accepted the Republican nomination on Thursday.

“If that bullet last week had traveled a quarter of an inch in a different direction, Republicans would be in the same boat,” Muller said.

The question of whether Harris can tap into Biden’s campaign coffers while mounting her own bid for the White House faces increased likelihood of litigation.

Sean Cooksey, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), suggested on Monday that Harris may not be able to access the nearly $100 million in Biden’s campaign account. Biden campaign archived documentation changing his name from “Biden for President” to “Harris for President” within hours of the president’s decision to drop out.

But campaign finance lawyers have pointed to the fact that the campaign registered as the “primary campaign committee” for both Biden and Harris when filing its registration statement with the agency as a reason that those funds are also theirs. by right.

Dara Lindenbaum, one of six FEC commissioners, co-signed this argument Sunday, writing in X that if Harris becomes the Democratic Party nominee, “she will have access” to Biden’s funds.

“My guess is there may be some questions or legal disputes about this,” Muller said, “but I assume we won’t have answers until well after the election.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story