Can Congress or the Supreme Court change or delay federal elections during emergencies?
Executive summary
Only Congress — not the President — has clear constitutional authority to change the date of federal general elections; states also control many timing mechanics for how they choose electors [1] [2]. The Supreme Court can and does issue emergency orders that affect election procedures (stays or injunctions), but it has no general power to “delay elections” on its own — its emergency docket typically adjudicates specific legal disputes tied to election rules [3] [4].
1. Who can change the date of a federal election — the plain legal line
Article II and long-standing federal law make clear that Congress sets the date for choosing presidential electors; since 1845 Congress fixed Election Day as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and scholars and reporting say only Congress can change that date [1] [2]. Multiple news fact-checks and legal experts reiterate the same conclusion: a president cannot unilaterally delay or cancel a federal election [5] [6].
2. States’ practical authority and the messy middle
States administer elections and have emergency-contingency statutes governing voting mechanics (for example, statutes about ballot deadlines and emergency postponements), so a state could in narrow circumstances postpone local voting dates or alter procedures — though doing so for a presidential contest would create constitutional and logistical conflicts with Congress’s fixed Election Day and with federal deadlines for electoral ballots [7] [2]. The Congressional Research Service and legal commentators have noted these tensions and warned that any change would be “extraordinary” and legally fraught [7].
3. Could Congress delegate that power to the President?
Legal reporting and experts say Congress could, in theory, enact a statute that authorizes an executive action under defined circumstances; commentators note such delegation would be politically explosive and constitutionally contested [1] [8]. Fact-checkers who reviewed contemporary legislation found no existing bill that hands the president authority to cancel or delay elections and stressed that empowerment would require explicit congressional action [6] [5].
4. What role can the Supreme Court play during emergencies?
The Supreme Court regularly handles emergency election litigation through stays and emergency orders on its “shadow” docket; those orders can pause lower-court rulings that would otherwise alter ballots, polling rules, or deadlines, effectively shaping whether specific changes take effect before an election [3] [9]. But the Court’s authority is case-specific: it answers legal disputes presented to it rather than setting election calendars nationwide [3] [4].
5. How emergency litigation has affected past elections
In 2020 and since, federal and state courts — and sometimes the Supreme Court via emergency applications — have resolved disputes about absentee-ballot deadlines, ballot access, and last-minute rule changes; these rulings have sometimes preserved or blocked procedural changes close to Election Day, illustrating the Court’s capacity to affect electoral administration without “delaying” the election itself [10] [11]. The Court’s emergency interventions frequently come as stays that are temporary but decisive for the upcoming vote [3].
6. Political and practical barriers to postponement
Even if Congress wanted to postpone an election, scholars and reporting stress the political reality: changing a national election date would require bipartisan congressional action and adjustments to other statutory deadlines (like the date Electoral College votes are counted), making such a move legally possible but politically and logistically extraordinary [1] [7]. Fact-checkers who examined contemporary proposals found no language transferring postponement power to the president and highlighted widespread bipartisan opposition to unilateral delays [6] [5].
7. Competing viewpoints and risks of misinformation
Some commentators and conservative policy groups have argued Congress and states, not the executive, hold the relevant levers [8]; critics warn that emergency orders from the Supreme Court’s shadow docket sometimes shift power between branches [9]. Reporting and fact-checking repeatedly reject claims that a president can delay elections — those claims have been the specific target of misinformation debunking [5] [6]. Available sources do not mention any instance where the Supreme Court or the president has definitively "postponed" a presidential general election nationwide.
8. Bottom line for readers and officials
The legal architecture gives Congress primary power to change federal election timing, states key control over how they select electors and run ballots, and the Supreme Court the authority to resolve urgent legal disputes that can alter election practice — but no current source shows any branch possessing an unchecked power to simply pause a national election [1] [2] [3]. Any attempt to move or cancel a federal election would trigger immediate litigation and political confrontation and would require explicit statutory change by Congress [7] [4].