What Happens If a Candidate Dies?

It depends on when it happens. The Constitution and federal law settle some scenarios clearly and leave others to party rules, state law and Congress.

Before Election Day

If a nominee dies or withdraws before the election, the party picks a replacement under its own rules. The Democratic and Republican national committees both have the power to fill a vacancy on the ticket.

There’s precedent.

In 1912, Vice President James Sherman, President William Howard Taft’s running mate, died six days before the election. After the election, Republicans named Nicholas Murray Butler, and Taft’s eight electors voted for him.

In 1972, Democratic vice presidential nominee Thomas Eagleton withdrew, and the Democratic National Committee replaced him with Sargent Shriver.

In 2024, President Joe Biden withdrew after the primaries, and Democrats nominated Vice President Kamala Harris in his place.

If a death comes close to the election, the candidate’s name may stay on the ballot, because ballots have been printed and early voting is under way. Voters are really choosing electors, so those votes go to the party’s electors, who would be expected to back the replacement.

Between Election Day and the electors’ vote

This is the murkiest window. No federal law tells electors what to do if the candidate they’re pledged to dies, and state laws that bind electors vary on whether they would cover a replacement. In practice, the party would name a new nominee and ask its electors to vote for that person.

The one precedent is 1872. Horace Greeley, the Liberal Republican and Democratic nominee, died on Nov. 29, a little over three weeks after losing to President Ulysses S. Grant. Most of his electors scattered their votes among four other men, but three Georgia electors voted for Greeley anyway, and Congress refused to count those three votes. Grant had won decisively, so none of it affected the outcome. (See faithless electors.)

After the electors vote

Once the electors have voted, the winners are generally considered the president-elect and vice president-elect, though the Constitution doesn’t say exactly when those titles apply. If the president-elect dies before Jan. 20, Section 3 of the 20th Amendment makes the vice president-elect president.

A harder question is what would happen if the winner died before Congress counted the votes on Jan. 6. Many scholars believe Congress would still count the votes cast for the deceased candidate, which would make the running mate president-elect, but the question has never been tested.

If no one has a majority

Section 4 of the 20th Amendment lets Congress pass a law covering a candidate’s death while the House or Senate is choosing among the finalists in a contingent election. Congress has never passed one.

After the inauguration

Once a president is sworn in, the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act govern: if the president dies, the vice president becomes president.