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This commodity covers subjects specific to the 2020 general election. It has not been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
Click here for more information about our 2020 election coverage.

A redo ballot, also known every bit a revote or special election remedy, is the process of voiding election results and holding a new election.[1] The specific reasons for calling a redo ballot vary, but might include deliberate efforts to obscure the results such as electoral fraud or mistakes like a cleaved voting machine.

No country or county has e'er held a presidential redo election. Whether they can is an open question. On July vi, 2017, FiveThirtyEight's Julia Azari wrote, "[Westward]hether this kind of re-practise is allowed for presidential elections is a more complicated affair. Some legal scholars maintain that the language in Article II of the Constitution prevents belongings a presidential election once more ... Others suggest that at that place is legal precedent for a presidential re-vote if there were flaws in the process."[2]

Ballotpedia identified two court cases addressing the legality of a presidential redo election:

Fladell v. Palm Embankment County Canvassing Board (2000)

Following the 2000 presidential election in Florida between Al Gore (D) and George W. Bush (R), voters in Palm Beach County filed a lawsuit in Florida's 15th Circuit Court before Judge Jorge Labarga. Plaintiffs asked for a redo election, alleging that the layout of the ballot used in Palm Beach Canton did not comply with state law resulting in voter confusion and mistaken votes.[3] In a previous hearing, the case was divide in ii with the first hearing to make up one's mind whether a presidential redo election was legal. If and then, the second hearing would have addressed the facts of the example relating to the ballot layout.[4] During the starting time hearing, Labarga decided "it is non legally possible to have a re-vote or new election for Presidential electors in Florida."[iv]

Labarga based his conclusion on the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and a 1997 U.Southward. Supreme Courtroom case, Foster 5. Love.

Labarga kickoff cited Article II, Section i of the U.S. Constitution, which reads, in part, as follows: "The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Twenty-four hour period shall be the same throughout the The states." He then cited Title iii, Affiliate 1 of the U.Southward. Code, specifically sections one, 2, and five, which ready a uniform federal Ballot Day on the Tuesday later the first Monday in November. The cited laws allow states to constitute procedures to account for controversies over election results, but Labarga determined that Florida had no such procedures in its statutes.[4]

Finally, Labarga referenced Foster 5. Honey, a U.Southward. Supreme Court case that struck down a Louisiana law that scheduled an ballot in October before Election Day. Under Louisiana'southward arrangement, if no candidate received a majority vote in the Oct election, the top 2 vote-getters would participate in a 2d election on Election Solar day in November. If a candidate in the October election received a majority vote, they would win the ballot outright. The Supreme Court ruled that this set-upwards violated federal law because a candidate could win outright before Election Day effectively creating a federal ballot in Louisiana before the congressionally established Ballot Day.[v] Justice David Souter wrote that the federal law setting a single Election Day "mandates holding all elections for Congress and the Presidency on a single day throughout the Wedlock." Labarga interpreted this to mean a presidential redo election occurring on some appointment after Ballot Day was not feasible in Florida.[4]

Labarga was a Gov. Lawton Chiles (D) appointee.[6] Click here to read his full decision.

Donohue v. Board of Election of the Country of New York (1976)

Following the 1976 presidential ballot in New York between incumbent Gerald Ford (R) and Jimmy Carter (D), Republican and Conservative Party supporters filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York request for a redo election. Co-ordinate to Judge Jacob Mishler'south terminal order, the plaintiffs alleged "that state officials ... committed fraudulent acts in the acquit of voter registration and the subsequent general Presidential ballot which served to deprive them of their constitutionally protected right to vote."[7]

Mishler did not decide whether a presidential redo ballot could be called because he dismissed the case after deciding the plaintiffs failed to prove fraud had occurred. Even if fraud occurred, the number of afflicted votes would not accept changed the result.[7] Yet, Mishler wrote, "[F]ederal courts in the past accept not hesitated to take jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to the validity of local elections and, where necessary, order new elections. The fact that a national election might require judicial intervention ... if anything, militates in favor of interpreting the equity jurisdiction of the federal courts to include challenges to Presidential elections."[7]

Mishler was a Dwight Eisenhower (R) appointee. Click here to read his full determination.

Side by side question: Who is the president if ballot results are unknown past January 20, 2021?

The 2020 election took place against a backdrop of doubt. Our readers had questions about what to expect in elections at all levels of authorities, from the casting of ballots to the certification of final results. Ballotpedia'southward 2020 Election Aid Desk was designed to respond those questions.

More frequently asked questions about the 2020 election

Click on a question below to read the answer:

  • Full general election information
    • Who runs elections in the United States?
    • Why practise states accept different election rules?
    • What methods do states utilise to prevent election fraud?
    • Do you have to vote for everything on your election?
    • What happens if you lot mark outside the lines or use the wrong pen/pencil?
    • What is a spoiled ballot?
    • What is a write-in candidate?
    • How can I cheque the status of my ballot?
    • Can I take a ballot selfie?
  • Presidential election
    • What happens if a presidential candidate declares victory in the 2020 ballot earlier results are final?
    • Can presidential candidates win the election if they have already conceded?
    • What are the steps and deadlines for electing the President of the United States?
    • What happens if at that place is a necktie in the Electoral Higher?
    • What are faithless electors in the Balloter Higher?
    • What happens if a presidential nominee becomes incapacitated before the ballot?
    • Can members of Congress object to Electoral Higher results?
  • Processing and counting absentee/mail-in ballots
    • What is the life cycle of an absentee/postal service-in ballot?
    • What happens if I vote by mail and desire to change my election at a later date?
    • What happens if someone votes by mail service and then tries to vote in person?
    • How practice states protect and verify absentee/postal service-in ballots?
    • How do election workers match signatures?
    • Are results reported on election dark coming from in-person or absentee/post-in votes?
    • Do states written report how many mail service-in/absentee ballots are outstanding on election nighttime?
    • Practice absentee/mail-in ballots have longer to count than in-person ballots?
    • What happens if someone votes by mail-in ballot or absentee ballot and later passes away earlier Election Solar day?
  • Disputing ballot results
    • How will election recounts piece of work?
    • How close does an ballot have to be to trigger an automated recount?
    • Can a candidate or voter request a recount?
    • Who pays for recounts and contested elections?
    • What are poll watchers?
    • What does it mean to claiming a voter's eligibility, and who can practise it?
    • What is a redo election?
    • Who can file election-related lawsuits?
    • What are the reasons to call a redo election?
    • Who can call a redo election?
    • Can a redo be held for a presidential election?
  • Ballot result reporting and certification
    • What happens if candidates declare victory in the 2020 election before results are final?
    • Can candidates win an election if they have already conceded?
    • How and when are election results finalized?
    • How practise major media outlets declare winners?
  • Transitions of ability and taking part
    • Who is the president if election results are unknown by Jan xx, 2021?
    • Who serves in Congress if ballot results are unknown past Jan 2021?
    • Who serves in a country or local authorities if election results are unknown?
    • What happens if the winning presidential candidate becomes incapacitated earlier taking office?
  • Articles about potential scenarios in the 2020 election
  • U.S. Supreme Courtroom deportment affecting the November iii, 2020, general election

See also

  • Disputing election results
    • Challenging absentee/mail-in ballots, 2020
    • Can candidates challenge the results of the 2020 elections?
    • How will ballot recounts work in the 2020 elections?

Additional reading

  • Congressional Research Service, "Legal Processes for Contesting the Results of a Presidential Election," Oct. 24, 2016
  • Matt Vasilogambros, "When Elections Get a Do-Over," December. 26, 2018
  • Steven Huefner, "Remedying Election Wrongs," accessed Oct. 12, 2020
  • Steven Mulroy, "Right Without Remedy? The 'Butterfly Ballot' Instance and Court-Ordered Federal Election 'Revotes,'" accessed Oct. 12, 2020
  • U.S. Election Assistance Commission, "Recounts and Contests Study," accessed Oct. 12, 2020

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Harvard Periodical on Legislation, "Remedying Election Wrongs," accessed October. eleven, 2020
  2. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "What Happens If The Ballot Was A Fraud? The Constitution Doesn't Say.," July 6, 2017
  3. ↑ Robert Crown Police Library, "Complaint for Declaratory Relief," accessed October. xi, 2020
  4. ↑ 4.0 iv.1 4.2 4.3 The Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial District of Florida in and for Palm Beach Canton, "Fladell five. Palm Embankment County Canvassing Lath," November. 20, 2000
  5. ↑ Oyez, "Foster v. Love," accessed Oct. 11, 2020
  6. ↑ Florida Supreme Courtroom, "Justice Jorge Labarga," accessed Oct. xi, 2020
  7. ↑ seven.0 7.1 vii.2 Justia, "Donohue five. Board of Elections of State of NY, 435 F. Supp. 957 (E.D.N.Y. 1976)," Dec. seven, 1976

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