Could Donald Trump really ‘cancel’ the 2020 presidential election? Yes, and here’s how

Don’t believe anyone who says “a presidential election can’t be canceled.”

It can be, and here’s how.

While it is true that the United States Constitution and (later) federal law requires that an election be held on the first Tuesday after the first Sunday in November, there is a catch: The Constitution allows the presidential electors to be chosen through means determined by the state legislatures, not by direct election of its citizens.

So, can President Donald Trump cancel the presidential election on a state-by-state basis if he thinks he may lose?

Yes he can, and it’s easy: Let’s say COVID-19 breaks out and chaos ensues. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution reads: “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…”

In other words, states, not citizens hold the power to select the presidential electors.

In fact, it wasn’t until 1824 that the popular vote was partially used to elect a president. Even in that election, while 18 states chose presidential electors by popular vote, six states still opted to choose them by a vote of the state legislature.

Under the Constitution, individual states can simply decide to appoint a trove of Trump supporters to cast their electoral votes for him – it is perfectly within their rights

All that Trump-biased states would need to do is declare a COVID-19 health emergency and pass a law to take away the presidential selection from the citizens and give it to themselves. The result would be a canceled presidential election in that state, and a slate of Trump electors, chosen to cast their state’s electoral votes, allowing any state with a close margin to guarantee Trump a victory.

Another common question I hear is: “What happens if there is COVID-19 chaos this fall and the presidential election is thrown to the House of Representatives?”

Most people logically think Trump will lose because the Democrats control the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, the opposite is true: If it goes into the House,Trump wins. He wins because, under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, each state receives just one vote. Thus, California which has 55 electoral votes would have the same voting power as North Dakota with 3 electoral votes.

The writing is already on the wall. After witnessing the use of the military force to silence peaceful protesters, let’s clearly understand that these people will take any steps – even extralegal steps – necessary to stay in power. Trump’s advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has refused to rule out delaying the election. It is no coincidence that Trump and his allies have done everything in their power to stop voting by mail. They have done so because allowing citizens to vote without risking their lives, takes away the “emergency” that will give their allies cover to cancel state elections.

Nothing should surprise us anymore – so put this on your list of important things to focus on as our national election looms. Fight your hearts out for universal vote-by-mail so that Trump and his minions have no excuse to cancel the election. Because we all know that Trump will do anything to stay in power, even if it means canceling the election.

This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 6:00 AM.