Postpone the 2020 Election? Only With Great Difficulty. Here’s Why. (original) (raw)
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With Louisiana and Georgia delaying their primary votes, we answer six key questions about holding elections in a crisis. And no, a president cannot cancel an election with executive authority.
The November general election date is set by federal law, and to change it would mean legislation enacted by Congress, signed by the president and subject to challenge in the courts.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times
Published March 14, 2020Updated July 30, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak is inflicting new disruptions on the 2020 presidential campaign by the day, but few compare to the decisions by Louisiana and Georgia over the past 48 hours to reschedule their upcoming primary elections.
The postponements were a highly unusual development in an American political campaign, though not an entirely unprecedented one.
So how much disruption can voters expect in the coming months? And how freely can local, state and federal authorities switch up the timing and other details of elections? We took a crack at answering some of the questions that may be on your mind.
Why are Louisiana and Georgia moving their primary elections?
Louisiana’s secretary of state, R. Kyle Ardoin, a Republican, asked Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, to postpone the state’s April 4 primary by about two months because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
The two men are permitted to do so by a Louisiana law that allows the governor to reschedule an election because of an emergency, so long as the secretary of state has certified that an emergency exists.
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