In Need Of Divine Clarification

Heres a question for all the Catholics out there.

If the Pope is placed on life support and is technically still alive by the fact that his heart is still beating, can the Catholic church go ahead and vote for the new pope or do they have to wait for him to be officially dead in every way and form?

Certainly they cannot expect everything to go on as before if the leader of the church is on life support. They would have to pick a new one, right?