Corona Daily 277: The “American” Rule

Today, the American elections are top of mind. Here is a covid-19 related US election story.

As you know, America elects not only a president, but senators, representatives and many others. David Andahl, 55, of Bismarck, North Dakota, was a Republican candidate for the State Legislature. A rancher and a land developer, he was keen to succeed as a politician. He had worked hard, and in a competitive primary election in June, defeated an incumbent republican to qualify for the November election.

His Facebook entry talked about his chairing the county planning commission for sixteen years. He promised to bring the same commitment to the legislature. He would appreciate the voters’ support. On 1 October, David Andahl fell ill with Covid-19. He was hospitalized. His last FB entry was on 4 October. On 5 October he died. His mother later said he was very careful about the virus. She didn’t know where he contracted it from. His funeral took place on 14 October. In his obituary, he was described as a compassionate, generous, ambitious, and inviting soul.

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The Attorney General’s legal advice was sought. What should be done when the Republican party candidate has died?

It was too late, everyone agreed, to change the ballot papers. For early voting, they were already sent with the dead man’s name. One can’t simply change and reprint ballot papers so close to the election.

The attorney general sent a considered opinion. He talked about the “American” Rule upheld by the courts. The ”American” Rule holds that (1) the purpose of an election is to carry out the will of the people (2) votes for a dead candidate represent a choice by qualified voters among the options on the ballot (3) to disregard such votes is to frustrate the popular will and therefore (4) votes for the dead candidates should be counted like any other votes.

In short, David Andahl, though dead, must be on the ballot paper as if nothing has happened, voters may or may not vote for him as if he was alive, and votes for him must be counted as if he was alive.

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The skeptics pointed to the provision in the constitution, which said the candidate must be a North Dakota resident on the election day. The Republicans and Democrats argued whether Andahl ceased to be a resident simply because he ceased to be alive. He was freshly lying in a cemetery in his constituency.

Another faction argued about what “election day” meant. In America, election day was more like election month. Was it when the ballots were sent, was it when the mail-in voting started, or the actual election day?

The debates went on for so long, it was 3 November. David Andahl continued to be the Republican candidate on the ballot.

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Why is it called the ‘American’ rule? To distinguish it from the ‘English’ Rule which American judges have criticized. In England, if a candidate dies any time before declaring the results, the votes given to him are null and void.

In the UK, if a party candidate dies, that election is cancelled, and after a replacement, held after 28 days. If an independent candidate dies, he continues to be on the ballot paper, but votes given to him are ignored. The UK rules also explicitly state that a dead candidate is not allowed to take his/her place in the House of Commons.

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USA managed to declare many winners today, among them was David Andahl, who defeated the democratic opposition handsomely.

As the “American” rule prescribes in such situations, David Andahl was declared as the winner to respect the will of the voters.

The result is a vacancy in the office.

Ravi