If a presidential candidate dies after the party convention and before the election, particularly before ballots are printed, the party can select a new person to represent the party on the ticket. The choice will depend on the party's own rules. As the election nears, the situation gets more sticky, because elections take time to plan. Practically speaking, ballots must be printed, and if there is not enough time to do that, the election can still go on, though with the name of a now-dead candidate on the ballot - state law should dictate how such ballots would be handled. Vermont law (17 VSC 2475), for example, states that new ballots will be printed - but if the death occurs near enough to Election Day, it may not be possible to print new ballots.
While near-election death might be a problem for a Senator or a judge, where the voters are electing a specific person, in the case of the presidential election, the buffer of the electoral college would allow the election to continue.
After the election
While it may seem odd for voters to cast their ballots for someone who has recently died, if the death should occur after the election, but before the electors cast their ballots on Elector Day, the onus will fall on the electors. Constitutionally, the electors are always able to exercise their judgement when they cast their ballots, though except on rare occasions, they always vote for whomever the presidential candidate is. In the event of a death, the party will choose an alternate candidate for the electors to vote for, and direct the electors to do so. The electors will have to make their own decision if they wish to stick with the party's choice or not.
At this point a question may arise: What if one of the electors dies? This eventuality should be anticipated by state law. For example, in Vermont, on Elector Day, the assembled electors choose an alternate at the time of the meeting. The elector so-chosen then submits his or her vote with the other electors (17 VSC 2732).
After the electors vote
Once the electors' votes are cast, the votes are bundled and sent to Congress. It is here, if the candidate dies after the electors vote, that the election can really turn on a dime.
The votes for president are sent to the House to be counted, while the votes for the vice president are sent to the Senate for counting. Any ballot which is invalid would not be counted - and a ballot cast for a person who is dead would not be considered valid. In this case, if the dead person was the winner of the electoral votes cast, and assuming a normal two-party election, the person with the most valid electoral votes would be the person who actually received the lower portion of the electoral votes.
After the electoral votes are counted
After the electoral votes are counted, there will most likely be an official president-elect. The only exception is if there is not clear majority in the electoral votes, and the vote devolves to the House - this possibility is discussed on the Electoral College Page.
Once the president-elect and the vice-president elect have been selected, the 20th Amendment kicks in. Specifically, if the president-elect dies, the vice president-elect will become president on Inauguration Day. After that, the new president will select a new vice president using the procedures in the 25th Amendment.
These procedures are all in place to ensure the peaceful and orderly transition of power from one administration to the next. Hopefully, none of these procedures will ever have to be put into practice.
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