Wouldn't it take a constitutional amendment to postpone the election?

[Ten Bears]

Isn't the date of a presidential election identified in the constitution and therefore would it not take an amendment to postpone it? Can you envision a scenario where the election is postponed and then * uses this arguement to simply cancel it?

Why do people think they will be safer from terrorism with this idiot in office? Never before have they postponed an election but * is so inept that they are considering it. It was on his watch that the greatest act of terrorism happened and this war president crap is only because HE STARTED IT!

And just to jump on the pile, THE RECESSION STARTED IN MARCH OF 2001 in part because during the election heist it was his chimp faced visage that was on television claiming we were already in one. So stop this lie about inheriting a recession.

There is absolutely nothing the GOP will not lie about!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. I Would Think Martial Law Would Have To Declared First...

NT

[jdsmith]

2. You'd imagine it would require an amendment to deny citizens due process

We're at WAR, people! Can't you get that through your heads!!

"Constitution"?? Do we have one of THOSE?

[frankly_fedup2]

9. Well folks . . . there is the OCTOBER SURPRISE . . .

I don't think our Constituion means anything to this administration. However, it does already state in the Constitution that the elections can be postponed if the Congress votes that the Country would be better off if the elections were postponed until the Country was more stable, or in the case of this administration, until they finish whatever destructive deeds they have not completed OR whether they have padded their pockets and their friend's pockets enough yet.

So we might want to start planning bus rentals, donations, someone to organize for every state. Of course, organized protesting has gotten us NO WHERE! What's next folks . . . a Revolution to take back our Country???? Scary thought!

[calico1]

20. But the country will NEVER be stable as long as

Bush is in office! LOL! They don't need to postpone the election. We just need a new President with a brain.

[havocmom]

3. With the way legislation is rushed through for votes (in the wee hours)

and all the extraneous things stuffed into it, this Marriage Amendment WhoopLa really concerns me. Bad enough to deny a segment of the population the benefits of publicly acknowledged legal bonds of commitment, but what ugly little surprises are they gonna hide in pages and pages which won't be read by many?

[NMDemDist2]

4. Congress can decide

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

(The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not lie an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice-President.) (This clause in parentheses was superseded by Amendment XII.)

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.


http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A1Sec4

[unblock]

14. ouch! looks like they're right!

it appears that congress has the right to change election day.
with majorities in both houses, repukes are free to monkey around quite a bit.

for instance, they could suddenly shift election day to, say, 9/11/04, possibly with only a few days notice.
they could quietly give a heads up to republican governors of red states, and perhaps only they will be adequately prepared by that date.

alternatively, they could delay the election if they happen to be trailing in early november, and try to wait for a day when they're polling better.

aaaaarrrrggghhhh!

[Freya]

18. Nope

A dem filibuster could easily hold out in the senate until election day.

Let's also remember only congress has this power. If bush wants to appoint a special person to take that authority he should be impeached. Congress can delay elections and I support that power as it is in the constitution. I do not support that power being given to an authority not authorized in the constitution.

[htuttle]

5. Do you mean postponing them 'legally'?

Yes. There is no provision in the Constitution for postponing elections.

In fact, IIRC, I don't even think all those doomsday executive orders JFK signed that plan for post-nuclear war (which allow the President to nationalize critical parts of the economy, for example) mention anything about postponing elections.

[acmavm]

6. Could these stories be part of the big surprise predicted by one of the

posters here on DU this past week? He predicted an constitutional crisis. H20MAN was the person that I think predicted that by July 14th we would be seeing some really big news.

The possible postponement of the election and the story about how it was really Feith who set up a shadow intelligence scam to slant the CIA intelligence? Either one of those two would by themselves would be big enough, but both at the same time leads me to believe that there are some very ugly events in the works.

[charlyvi]

7. The Bush*Bunch is very creative....

at fashioning Constitutional amendments. Gay Marriage, flag burning, etc.

[MissAnnThrope]

13. Amendments

There hasn't been a Constitutional Amendment ratified since 1992. As far as flag burning goes, that can't be added to the Constitution without changing the flag code. A tattered flag must be burned with reverence.

I'm so against the idea of an amendment against gay marriage. All we can hope for is a change in Congress at this election, if they allow us to have the election. And that Congress suddenly decides it has better things to do than vote on that.

[charlyvi]

21. I think that Bush*Bunch knows all this....

But they use flag burning, gay marriage, etc. for political purposes. They know none of this will pass, but they want to score political points with their base by stating that they want it to pass. Cheap PR with the base. Unconscionable.

[MissAnnThrope]

22. Actually Bush knows NOTHING of the Flag Code.

He allowed flags to be raised from half staff on July 3, a full day before the 30 days of national mourning were supposed to be over. The Flag Code states that when a President dies, former or current, the flag must be flown at half staff for 30 days. People were allowed to raise them to full staff on the 4th, but Bush didn't realize that and allowed them to be raised a day early, so Americans could fly them at full staff for the 4th.

After the bombings, he was talking about how patriotic some kid was who painted his car with the American Flag. Violation of the flag code. But Bush announced it was patriotic on national television. The man has no concept whatsoever.

[charlyvi]

23. Well we all know

Bush doesn't know much about anything but clearing brush. He will fight for his right to be ignorant. KERRY/EDWARDS 2004!!!

[louis-t]

8. Repeat after me.....

Bush offers more war.
Kerry offers chance for peace.

[patricia92243]

10. It will take Bush looking like he is losing

[jobycom]

11. That was the Pre-December 12th, 2000 America

Another celebrity death the media shortchanged was the USA, which was effectively killed when the Supreme Court ruled that all votes did not have to be counted in order to decide an election.

Since then, the Constitution is just sort of a guideline our government will follow when it doesn't get in the way.

[qazplm]

12. no

Congress can do it...the Constitution only mandates the time frame (every four years) and the general manner (Electoral College System), the specific date of the election is up to college.

[oly]

15. I emailed Jack Balkin.

He might respond. Great blog.
http://balkin.blogspot.com/

[Freya]

16. No

as per the constitution congress (and only congress) can set times, places, and manners for elections. The states can as well, but the national congress is superior.

"Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators. "

[spooky3]

17. welcome to DU, Ten Bears!

[no_hypocrisy]

19. Ten Bears, Oly, and Freya: Welcome to DU.

And always know where your passports are.