Despite the fact that more than 410,000 votes have already been cast in the presidential election, the Republican National Committee could legally replace Donald Trump as its nominee — if it comes to that.

The question is, how many votes already cast would be lost? And how many of the 50 states would heed the RNC’s call to replace Trump on newly printed ballots?

“It’s a state-by-state question … It’s not a viable option.”

The toughness of the task would, on face value, seem to spell doom for a new Republican presidential nominee. Yet, three of the highest profile, last-minute ballot additions in the previous 30 years won their statewide elections.

A replacement scenario arose as a possibility after someone at “Access Hollywood,” an NBC-Universal celebrity news outlet, leaked “hot mic” footage of Trump talking about chasing a married woman. In that pre-interview with Billy Bush, Trump boasted of being able to sexually touch women with ease and without consequence.

The footage, published on Friday, was mostly audio, and made in 2005 just before Trump appeared on a soap opera. But the fallout has been severe, with top Republicans calling for Trump to exit the race. Trump officials scrambled to meet in Manhattan on Saturday.

The Trump camp has fiercely pushed back on rumors of a potential dropout and replacement — but that hasn’t stopped the rumors from swirling.

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Perhaps just as hurtful to Republicans, the resulting media storm also overshadowed the Friday leak of partial transcripts of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s speeches to Goldman Sachs and other moneyed audiences.

It’s the second time in less than a month that both major parties have considered emergency rules to replace their presidential candidate. After her pneumonia-related collapse on Sept. 11, Clinton became the focus of talk about replacement procedures.

Now, some in the RNC don’t appear to want Trump on the ticket anymore. The RNC took Trump’s name off certain campaign phone calls being made to voters in swing states on Saturday. Also on Saturday, the RNC froze production of Trump-related campaign materials, albeit temporarily, according to Politico.

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Now the question is: Is it worth it for the RNC to replace Donald Trump? Losing already-cast votes for Trump would hurt. At least 410,000 Americans have already voted. (Other down-ballot races would not be affected.) More will vote by mail or by early voting between now and a possible replacement.

The important thing, if the unthinkable happens and a switch occurs, would be new ballots going forward, experts agree. The RNC would likely have to petition states to reprint ballots going out, both on Election Day, and in the mail, and at early voting stations, according to The Washington Post.

But 5.9 million mail-in ballots have already been requested or sent, according to the U.S. Election Project at the University of Florida. If the states mail most of them out before a new candidate is announced, there is nothing the RNC can do.

There is disagreement on whether or not Trump can be replaced on the 50 state ballots, even if Trump drops out and an emergency RNC meeting chooses a new ticket.

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According to Rule 9 of the Republican National Committee, the party can “fill any and all vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination, or otherwise of the Republican candidate for president of the United States or the Republican candidate for vice president of the United States, as nominated by the national convention, or the Republican National Committee may reconvene the national convention for the purpose of filling any such vacancies.”

In other words, Trump would have to die, become incapacitated, or decline the nomination. He likely cannot be forced out — although some argue the “otherwise” clause allows expulsion for moral turpitude and the like.

If he leaves the ticket, anyone eligible can be chosen as a replacement. Vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence would not necessarily be chosen to replace Trump. And the RNC could even replace Pence as the VP candidate.

Such a change would still mean the RNC would have to battle states that do not want to change their ballots.

Richard Winger, the longtime editor of Ballot Access News, said states have reprinted ballots before, with little or no legal justification. Sometimes they have been ordered to print ballots days before the election, as was the case in Cook County, Illinois, in 1990.

Winger believes states have enough time to make a change, even though existing votes will be lost.

One example Winger gives is the 1990 Minnesota governor’s race. Very late in that race, the GOP was poised to defeat Democrat incumbent Gov. Rudy Perpich. But Republican Jon Grunseth was rocked by front-page scandals on Oct. 15.

On Oct. 28, Grunseth dropped out. On Nov. 1, the Minnesota Supreme Court said his replacement, Arne Carlson, could stay on the ballot as the Republican nominee.

On Nov. 6, 1990, Carlson won, beating the incumbent Democrat by almost 60,000 votes. Grunseth still got 11,000 votes — more than half a percent — because his name was on early ballots.

And in 2002, Democrats replaced their New Jersey candidate for U.S. Senate in early October, then won a court challenge.

In short, the precedents are there for the RNC if they chose to take a few states to court and force them to change ballots. But a former RNC member says the 50-state maze makes it too late to run through.

“It’s a state-by-state question,” said Jim Bopp, a Terre Haute, Indiana, attorney and special counsel to the RNC. “It’s not a viable option.”

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Winger said RNC could also try a truly novel and unprecedented strategy in modern presidential politics: target the Electoral College. That means telling voters that the electors would take care of the issue when they cast votes in Washington.

The winner of each state gets electors sent to the Electoral College, where the president is officially elected after Election Day’s popular vote. For example, Florida will send 29 electors to Washington for the Electoral College vote.

The issue of talking to voters about what voting for the ticket really means has precedent, too — in Missouri in 2000. Winger points to the Oct. 16, 2000, death of Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan. Carnahan was running against U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft for the Senate. But Carnahan, a Democrat, was killed in a plane crash just before the election.

Democrats promised that Carnahan’s widow would be chosen as a replacement if the late governor got enough votes. Carnahan, a dead man, won the election. And the new Democratic governor appointed his widow to the Senate.

In a similar manner, the RNC could tell voters in each state that a vote for a Trump-Pence ticket is actually a vote for Trump’s replacement. Thirty states have laws against “faithless electors” — people who vote for someone other than the presidential candidate who won the state. But the laws have few teeth and no enforcement mechanisms.

Democrats would no doubt sue in any of these scenarios, but the RNC could easily answer that for the most part, the Democrats set these precedents.