Can you imagine if this pandemic happened a month or two before the General Election???

[mitch96]

The orange one would shut everything down, declare a state of emergency and crown himself Prez for life.... In a way its better this happens now than later.. I wish it never happened though..
m

[ribrepin]

1. I live in Washington state

and we vote by mail.

[guillaumeb]

2. He cannot do that.

But what makes you think that it will not be a big factor in the election?

Trump's mishandling, and the all but inevitable recession, will drive his numbers lower among the sane segment of the voting population.

[unblock]

5. Recession isn't "inevitable"; it's already started.

Economists are generally expecting March to reverse January and February's gdp gains, and q2 will be roughly -5%, a very sharp contraction.

Open question as to how long it will last and when we are by November.

[guillaumeb]

6. Another question is how much voter supression the GOP will enagage in

between now and November.

[TwilightZone]

3. He can't.

Bush pursued the possibility in 2004 and it was confirmed that the Executive doesn't have the authority. Same applies to Trump.

Emergency powers don't apply. Martial law doesn't apply. It's been well-established that only Congress can change the date and states control the election process and are given wide latitude.

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/RL32471.pdf

[dhol82]

4. Thank whatever gods there may be!

[NotASurfer]

7. Then there's the 4-year term to which Pres and VP are elected

Come January 20, 2021, that four years is up. If there is no Presidential election for any reason, the reign of the Orange Menace ends because the term is four years.

The Speaker of the House becomes President at that point.