Republicans Will Make Swapping Nominees Complicated. But They’ll Likely Fail.

Legal experts predicted courts would not side with Republican efforts to keep Kamala Harris off ballots. And as for campaign financing, a Democratic lawyer isn’t worried: “They can bring an FEC complaint. Good luck with that.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris wave at a campaign event.
Evan Vucci/AP

On Sunday, Joe Biden dropped out of the race and threw his support behind Kamala Harris, hoping to make the transition between them as seamless as possible. But Democrats will have to contend with the legal challenges that Republicans have promised to unleash over some genuine uncertainties in election and campaign finance law.

Most experts agree that there are no serious barriers to swapping Biden out for Harris, even at this late date.

“Switching out Biden is no issue — he’s not the nominee,” said UCLA professor and election law expert Rick Hasen. “He’s always been the presumptive nominee.”