WEBVTT 00:02.266 --> 00:04.566 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JOHN YANG: Democratic Party officials will now have to negotiate state election laws. And they're 00:04.566 --> 00:09.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% just six weeks away from the first mail-in ballots being sent out to voters in North Carolina. Rick 00:11.566 --> 00:15.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Hasen teaches at UCLA law school and is an expert on election law. Rick, how hard or easy 00:18.233 --> 00:23.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% isn't going to be for Democratic Parties in the states across the country to change the balance? 00:25.333 --> 00:27.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% RICK HASEN, UCLA School of Law: Well, they don't need to change anything at this point. 00:27.333 --> 00:31.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Because remember, Joe Biden was never the nominee officially of the Democratic Party. 00:31.066 --> 00:34.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% He was the presumptive nominee, his name was going to be submitted either after 00:34.666 --> 00:39.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% this virtual roll call that was maybe going to take place in early August or at the convention. 00:39.500 --> 00:44.466 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% So really, the fact that Joe Biden is dropping out now is not the issue. The issue is one more of 00:46.733 --> 00:49.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% timing in terms of when the information from the party is going to be transmitted to the various 00:51.900 --> 00:56.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% state officials. I think that it should go in almost every place very smoothly. And there should 00:59.133 --> 01:02.733 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% not be an issue based on the fact that it's going to be a different nominee other than Joe Biden. 01:04.933 --> 01:07.066 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JOHN YANG: Now, before the President dropped out this morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson 01:07.066 --> 01:11.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% was out saying that he was going to expect legal challenges from Republican parties 01:11.900 --> 01:16.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% across the country to wall this. How -- is there grounds -- are their grounds for 01:18.600 --> 01:22.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% a legal challenge? And could that how long could that fight go on? 01:22.600 --> 01:26.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% RICK HASEN: Well, I don't think that the legal challenges would be likely to be successful. I 01:26.800 --> 01:31.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% think they'd be very unlikely to be successful. Ohio, for example, had an early ballot deadline. 01:33.900 --> 01:37.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% They changed the deadline to later. But they the later -- the change doesn't go into effect 01:39.133 --> 01:42.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% technically until September 1st, but state officials have said, we're going to stick 01:44.566 --> 01:46.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% with the new deadline. And so Democrats should be fine to put an anomaly after that convention. 01:46.866 --> 01:51.033 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% So someone could try to challenge that. The courts have been very protective of the rights 01:51.033 --> 01:55.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of major party candidates to be on the ballot. There are a few other states where technical 01:55.700 --> 02:00.433 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% issues could be raised like Washington State, I think these things are very unlikely to succeed. 02:00.433 --> 02:04.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And it's just kind of more smoke that's being thrown up to try to, you know, it was tried to 02:04.333 --> 02:08.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% keep Biden in the race and now to try to claim that Democrats are doing something illegitimate. 02:08.800 --> 02:11.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: In your experience and your knowledge of the history of all this. Has 02:11.600 --> 02:16.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% there ever been a presidential candidate dropping out this late in the campaign? 02:18.333 --> 02:20.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% RICK HASEN: This is very late. And remember the Democrats have a very 02:20.666 --> 02:23.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% late convention so everything is later I think maybe that was 02:23.400 --> 02:27.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% because of the Olympics were taking place between the two conventions. 02:27.033 --> 02:31.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% It's very late. But you know, lots of other countries run entire elections in the period 02:31.333 --> 02:36.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that we would have between Labor Day and our election day. So, you know, certainly, 02:36.133 --> 02:39.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% there's enough time to ramp up campaigns. And I think that's what we're going to see. 02:39.733 --> 02:42.166 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JOHN YANG: Yeah, we've been reminded of those short campaigns recently, 02:42.166 --> 02:46.833 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% in Britain and in France. What happens to the money that the Biden Harris campaign has raised? 02:48.900 --> 02:51.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% RICK HASEN: It's going to depend on if Harris is the nominee or not. Harris 02:51.333 --> 02:56.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% is not the nominee then Biden would have to either give the money away to the Democratic 02:56.300 --> 03:01.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Party or two -- he could set up a Super PAC potentially, he could have his own PAC 03:03.333 --> 03:06.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that could support a candidate, those things would be not as good as if Harris took over. 03:08.800 --> 03:12.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Most election lawyers think that of Harris takes over, she can just keep using the funds. There are 03:12.500 --> 03:17.300 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% some people who claim that she wouldn't be able to do that, at least not yet. And so it's possible 03:17.300 --> 03:21.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% there will be a challenge. But usually campaign finance challenges come years later, we're still 03:21.733 --> 03:26.133 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% getting some resolution of things that happened in 2016, when it comes to campaign finance. So 03:26.133 --> 03:29.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think if it's Harris, she's very likely to be able to take over the use of that money. 03:29.733 --> 03:34.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JOHN YANG: Now the process of choosing the next nominee, some Republicans are already criticizing 03:34.233 --> 03:39.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% it, saying that it's anointing Vice President Harris that it's anti small D democratic, 03:41.233 --> 03:45.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% taking the decision away from the voters. What do you make of that? 03:45.266 --> 03:50.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% RICK HASEN: Well, remember that the years ago, the parties didn't have a such a democratic process, 03:52.700 --> 03:56.366 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% really, the democracy comes mostly when it's the choice between the Democrat 03:56.366 --> 04:01.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and the Republican. It's since the late 1960s. The process has been democratized. 04:03.366 --> 04:06.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But here you don't have the party leaders overcoming the will of someone who still 04:09.133 --> 04:11.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% wants to run for office, the person who was in the lead has said I'm stepping back. And so you 04:11.933 --> 04:16.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% need to have some process. And if anything, if it is Harris, remember, she was on the ticket 04:16.633 --> 04:21.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% with Biden, so she was getting those votes from the voters with Biden all along the way. 04:23.366 --> 04:25.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JOHN YANG: Are there any say that changing the balance or the ballots 04:25.300 --> 04:28.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% won't have to be changed that much, is not much of a challenge or a problem? 04:28.300 --> 04:33.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Are there other legal hurdles you can foresee in all of this? 04:35.466 --> 04:37.566 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% RICK HASEN: Well, so what's going to have to happen is they're going to have to have their 04:37.566 --> 04:41.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ticket, right. So I think you might still see the roll call, virtual roll call take 04:43.900 --> 04:48.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% place so that the Democrats lock this up by early August. That way any of those long shot 04:50.233 --> 04:53.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% legal challenges would be would be gone. And I think it would be smooth sailing from the point 04:53.133 --> 04:57.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of view of election law. And that will really be about the politics of the whole situation. 04:57.200 --> 05:01.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JOHN YANG: Election law expert Rick Hasen of UCLA law school, thank you very much. 05:01.933 --> 05:06.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% RICK HASEN: Thank you.