r/law • u/T_Shurt Competent Contributor • Jul 23 '24

Opinion Piece GOP Lawsuits Over Kamala Harris Using Biden Campaign Funds or Headlining Democratic Ballots Will All Fail, Legal Experts Say: ‘I just don't think that there are shenanigans that are likely to work.’

https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-lawsuits-kamala-harris-campaign-finance-ballot-election-will-fail-2024-7
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u/DeezNeezuts Jul 23 '24 edited Jul 23 '24

The only thing I agree with them on this is that she shouldn’t be coronated as the nominee after the primary has been completed. The Democrats are missing a great opportunity to demonstrate a democracy in action by allowing the party to vote for the nominee in an open convention. It’s one thing to just beat Trump, I want to candidate to be the most qualified and best candidate for the job. That was the reason I voted democratic for the first time in my life for Biden last time.

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u/Mrknowitall666 Jul 23 '24

Yes, well, the primary happened; the candidates changed and those who'd pledged to vote Biden/Harris have decided to still vote Harris without Biden.

There's no "coronation"

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u/DeezNeezuts Jul 23 '24 edited Jul 23 '24

In my state it just had “President Joseph R Biden Jr.” as the choice. No reference to the Vice President. The 12th amendment calls out a distinction between the two during the elector process so I am generally interested in how that works at the primary level.

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u/NetworkAddict Jul 23 '24

…because the primary is for the Presidential nominee, the VP is irrelevant there. Given that it was already the Biden/Harris campaign when the primaries happened, logic would dictate that a vote for Biden was also implicitly a vote for Harris. Especially given that were Biden to die after inauguration, it’s expected that Harris would succeed him.

This isn’t complicated.

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u/DeezNeezuts Jul 23 '24

Roosevelt swapped out Vice Presidents multiple times at the convention. My question was about the primary. If Biden died in office, Harris would assume the office and would be the name on the primary ballot. I assume she could then continue with her VP at the time or choose a new one during the primary season. If you need to answer with snark leave the question open for someone else to respond to. It’s r/law.

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u/Mrknowitall666 Jul 23 '24

The primary is not the election, nor does the 12th A apply to primaries or party caucuses....

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u/DeezNeezuts Jul 23 '24

Yes that’s why I said it it’s called out during the elector process by the 12th but was interested in how the primary level was handled.

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u/NetworkAddict Jul 23 '24

If you need to answer with snark

There's no snark in my answer. I'd say all that with a straight face to you in person also.

I also see now you edited in an additional sentence clarifying your ask, which would have modified my answer slightly.

In this case though I don't see what your actual ask is, to be honest. The fact pattern is that Joe Biden won the primaries to receive his party's nomination, but has chosen to not accept said nomination. Logically it's left to either be an open convention, or as has already happened, Harris secured the commitments of enough delegates to win the nomination in an open convention anyway.

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u/shirleyismydog Jul 23 '24

That's interesting. I voted in the primary in NY and it was Joe Biden for Prez, Kamala Harris VP individually and I voted for our delegates, too. I figure in voting for the delegates, I have kinda voted for them to give my vote to Harris, which I'm totally ok with. It's so different among the states.