Death no bar

Being alive is not a legal requirement to be elected president of the United States

- K.P. NAYAR

AS THE UNITED STATES goes to the poll, main candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are not the only ones biting their nails.

Very few people know Ronald L. Rowe Jr., who is arguably the most worried man in Washington, DC. Rowe is acting director of the Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting presidential candidates, among others. Rowe knows something that most Americans are blissfully unaware of—that a dead man can legally be elected president should another attempt on Trump’s life succeed before voting day.

In India, an election is countermanded if a candidate dies during the campaign. The US constitution is irrevocable that the president should be chosen on “the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in evennumbered years.” The election has to take place even if one of the candidates is dead. And if the dead candidate garners 270 votes in the electoral college, he or she will be the president-elect.