“If Trump quits, GOP will have very tough time replacing him”

Greg Sargent:

Could Donald Trump drop out of the presidential race? It seems doubtful that his ego would permit him to slink away like the World’s Biggest Loser. But Republicans are reportedly preparing for the possibility of replacing him with another candidate, in the unlikely event that happens. ABC News reports that party rules stipulate that, if Trump voluntarily exits the race, the 168 members of the Republican National Committee would pick a replacement.

Here’s the problem: Balloting deadlines in key states might make replacing his name with another candidate’s name on the ballot into a massive logistical nightmare.

For instance, in order for Republicans to replace Trump’s name in Ohio — which is all but certainly a must-win state for the GOP — Trump might have to quit and be replaced by the RNC within the next five days. That’s right — five days.

The deadline for major and minor parties to submit names for the ballot in Ohio is August 10th, according to a spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. That’s five days away.

Now, it’s possible that Republicans could get a replacement name on the ballot in Ohio if Trump quits and gets replaced after that date. But here it gets very complicated. Joshua Eck, a spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, tells me that Ohio law does not provide for a process by which a replacement presidential candidate can be added to the ballot after that date — but it does not preclude that from happening, either.

“Ohio law is silent on replacing presidential candidates on the ballot,” Eck tells me.

What this means is that if Trump were to quit and be replaced at some point later than five days from now, the battle over whether the replacement name could be added to the ballot in Ohio would very likely go to the courts, and would be decided there.

Another possibility at this point would be that the Ohio state legislature could pass a law making it possible to allow the Republican Party to add a replacement name to the ballot after the deadline, election law expert Rick Hasen tells me.

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