Quote:
Originally Posted by stevew
What happens if the president elect dies in the period between when the electoral college votes and he or she takes office? Or between the election and the electoral college vote? I know there's a fair amount of EC voters that can go rogue, and these are primarily in R States.
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According to the 20th amendment, if the president-elect dies before inauguration, then the vice president-elect becomes the president-elect. If the winning candidate dies before the electoral college vote, there is no set precedent. According to federal law, the electors would be free to vote for the candidate of their choice. But there might be conflicting state laws that bind the voter to a particular candidate.
edit: a candidate passing away before the electoral college vote has only happened once, in 1872, but the candidate would not have won the electoral vote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United...election,_1872