Deadlines by state for parties to certify their candidates for the election

Scroll down for a complete list of deadlines and other rules by state. All of the listed dates have passed, but in a significant number of states the deadline is "unclear."

In short, it would be a big, hot mess.

https://ballotpedia.org/Ballot_access_for_presidential_candidates

Late September

Replacing a candidate's name in late September could have been challenging. The parties would likely have needed to look to the courts. As Politico noted on August 4, 2016, the courts have shown a willingness to work with the parties on the issue of deadlines: "Courts have tended to discard ballot deadlines in favor of having two parties represented on the ballot.”[3] In 2002, for instance, the New Jersey Supreme Court allowed Democrats to replace their nominee for a U.S. Senate seat 15 days after the certification deadline.[4] In addition to this, election officials in the states have been known to show some leeway on the deadlines. Richard Winger, an expert on ballot access laws, told Ballotpedia by email, “even when major parties have missed deadlines for certifying presidential and vice-presidential nominees, or presidential elector candidates, election officials have always set the deadline aside.”[5]

The other factor to consider, however, is whether or not the opposing party would have filed lawsuits seeking to enforce state laws as they are written in order to prevent a replacement nominee from appearing on the ballot. Such a process would have consumed a considerable amount of time, energy, and resources for both parties and would likely have exacerbated the struggles of the party trying to get its replacement nominee on the ballot.


October/early November

In October, especially later in the month, and in early November (before November 8) the situation becomes significantly more complicated. At this point, nearly all ballot certification deadlines have passed, many ballots have been printed, and voters in some states will have already cast their ballots. This begs the question: what happens if a candidate has dropped out of the race but wins the popular vote in a state? Would the replacement nominee just receive those electoral votes? The answer lies in what that state has to say about its electors in the electoral college. The Constitution does not dictate how electors must cast their votes. But some states do. More than half the states have laws dictating how electors must vote. If the former nominee won in a state that does not have a law on how its electors vote, then, theoretically, they could win all of that state's electoral votes. But if the former nominee won in a state that does have a law on how its electors vote, then, one would have to look at that law's fine print to see what would happen and if the state's electoral votes could go to the replacement nominee.

Examples of state laws on presidential electors

Michigan: "Refusal or failure to vote for the candidates for president and vice-president appearing on the Michigan ballot of the political party which nominated the elector constitutes a resignation from the office of elector, his vote shall not be recorded and the remaining electors shall forthwith fill the vacancy." (Michigan State Statute 168.47)

Florida: "Each such elector shall be a qualified elector of the party he or she represents who has taken an oath that he or she will vote for the candidates of the party that he or she is nominated to represent." (Florida State Statute 103.021)

Colorado: "Each presidential elector shall vote for the presidential candidate and, by separate ballot, vice-presidential candidate who received the highest number of votes at the preceding general election in this state." (Colorado State Statute 1.4.304)