The virus is prompting questions about what would happen if a presumptive presidential nominee or a nominee becomes incapacitated in a variety of circumstances: before the primaries have ended, after that but before the conventions, or after the conventions. I did a long interview with Vox that provides answers in these various circumstances, which we hope will not arise.

Here’s an excerpt on what would happen on the Democratic Party side if the nominee became incapacitated after the convention:

It’s nearly impossible to call back all the delegates for another convention, Pildes said. “You can’t reconstitute the convention, that’s just too unwieldy. At least to the Democratic Party, the rules specify the DNC in a circumstance like that would choose the replacement nominee for the party.”

So the number of people making the decision would be much smaller, reduced from thousands of delegates to about 447 DNC members, which are composed of state-elected members, current and former party officials (presidents, members of Congress, etc.), and representatives from party committees.

Here’s what the Democratic Party’s rules and bylaws say about the process:

Filling a Vacancy on the National Ticket: In the event of death, resignation or disability of a nominee of the Party for President or Vice President after the adjournment of the National Convention, the National Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee shall confer with the Democratic leadership of the United States Congress and the Democratic Governors Association and shall report to the Democratic National Committee, which is authorized to fill the vacancy or vacancies.

For Democrats in 2020, that would mean DNC Chair Tom Perez would confer with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (the current chair of the Democratic Governors Association) and then issue a report to the full 447-member DNC. The party as a whole would then meet, deliberate, and pick a new nominee.