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1 1 (March 20, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govcaxt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ~* or 101 ' Researh Servi kM- Postponing Federal Elections and the COVID- 19 Pandemic: Legal Considerations March 20, 2020 On March 13, 2020, Louisiana's Governor invoked emergency powers to announce that the state's presidential primary election, previously scheduled for April 4, would be postponed for more than two months as part of the state's response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic. Other states soon began exploring similar changes, prompting election officials, candidates, and voters to prepare for disruptions that could persist through November's general election. This Sidebar reviews the legal provisions that would constrain any efforts to delay or cancel federal elections during a public health crisis or other national emergency. The first part reviews laws pertaining to presidential elections, and the second part reviews laws relevant to congressional elections. Presidential Elections Presidential selection and succession is best understood as a three-step process, consisting of (1) the nomination of candidates by political parties; (2) the appointment of electors; and (3) balloting by electors (and, if necessary, the House of Representatives). Each step in this process is governed by a different constellation of state, federal, and constitutional rules, which allocate-or foreclose-discretion to alter the schedule to different actors. Presidential Primaries The Constitution makes no mention of the primary elections that the major parties have adopted in most states to select delegates to the national conventions where presidential candidates are formally nominated. Accordingly, it is largely the states' prerogative, in coordination with the political parties, to set the schedule and method of these contests. Some states schedule presidential primaries according to parochial interests. New Hampshire law, for example, requires that state's presidential primary to be held at least seven days in advance of any other state's primary to preserve its first-in-the-nation status. Other states defer to the parties. In South Carolina, state law provides that a political party may set the date and hours that polls will be open for a presidential preference primary election by providing written notice to the State Election Commission at least 90 days before the preferred date. In other states, a party may choose to forgo holding primary elections altogether. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10425 CRS Leg Sidebar Prepaed for Membeivs and Cornm ittees o4 Co q _gress ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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