I found this.
Texas Voter has identified the right part of the Constitution in this case. Phil is mistaken. A Vice President becomes President (and stops being Vice President) only in case of the death, resignation or removal of the President. A Vice President becomes Acting President (while continuing to be Vice President) in case of inability (disability) or failure to qualify (disqualification). We are talking about failure to qualify here, not removal from office. Only Congress can remove a President from office–not the Supreme Court–and only for a crime. Not being born here is not a crime.
About every other election, an Elector does not vote the proper way. The Elector’s vote is what counts, regardless what the party leaders tell the Elector to do. If a candidate wins the general election then stops being a candidate and the party leaders find a new candidate and convince their Electors to vote for the replacement (Phil’s case 1) then the replacement candidate will be the next President.
Once the Electors have voted, however, if a majority of them voted for a living, disqualified candidate (Phil’s cases 2 and 3) then the election goes to the House, and the House considers the top two or three candidates in the Electors’ votes. The Constitution does not let the Electors vote again. By law, they vote December 15, and their voting is done. This means the House would vote among Senator McCain and any random individual some lone Elector voted for by mistake <b/>(e.g., Governor Palin or Senator Biden) or voted for out of a strong conviction (e.g., Senator Clinton or Congressman Paul). An individual needs a vote of an Elector to be considered (by the House) for President. It takes a majority of the House voting by States for such an individual to win, and the House does not have to elect anyone. It can let the Vice President be Acting President until the end of the term.
Senator McCain might be disqualified too. In Phil’s case 3, anything a disqualified candidate attempted to do as President is null and void, which is why it is important for the Supreme Court to decide this matter sooner than later. |
