Posted on 10/22/2012 11:59:29 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
It's sounds crazy. It would be crazy. But it is possible that this election could result in a President Romney and a Vice President Biden.
Let me explain.
If there is a tie in the electoral college (and, as I explain below, there could be), it will be up to the newly elected House of Representatives to elect a President and the newly elected Senate to elect the Vice President.
The rules are all outlined in the 12 th Amendment to Constitution. Here's how it would work:
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Liberals are desperate. I guess they have no dignity left!
Haven’t done the math - but if Maine makes good on donating 1 R EV, which seems likely given Mitt has held his surge, then I think the scenario becomes way more unlikely, maybe even impossible.
We could keep Biden in the yard tending the veggie garden.
I remember reading an article last time round about how this could happen, and potentially result in a McCain-Biden administration - two old crazies running the country together. Some commentators even discussed a theoretical Obama-Palin administration. That would sure have been interesting.
It’s a little more realistic this time, though still pretty unlikely. I’d be more worried about a ‘faithless elector’ if the electoral college tied 269-269. One of those 538 guys being pressed/blackmailed/threatened into betraying the trust they’d been elected for (and it’s not even technically illegal, in many states, for a voter sent to the electoral college to then vote for the other party once there in December, when the presidency is officially confirmed by their vote) could change the direction of the country. And that’s one area in which I have to say I could see Obama coming out on top.
In a 269-269 tie, the electors wouldn’t matter anymore. The pres. would be chosen by the House.
Yes and no. If the VOTE, when held in December to confirm the results announced on election night, is 269-269, the electors cease to matter. However, the official result of the electoral college vote is decided when the 538 electors actually cast their ballots in early December.
Normally this is a non-event and garners little attention. But it is this vote which legally and constitutionally decides who will be the next president, not the one on November 6.
It’s not unheard of for one of a state’s electors to fail to vote as they promised: it’s happened on a dozen or so occasions since WW2, either in presidential elections or party nomination conferences. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faithless_elector
However, it’s never actually mattered before so doesn’t get much attention. In a nominal 269-269 tie, it’d suddenly matter a great deal...
I think what this guy is forgetting is that each elector gets TWO votes. One for president and one for vice president, that adds a different dimension to the game.
When did we start obeying the Constitution?
Ouch. Knowing the Chicago gang, it wouldn’t surprise me if an elector
found a dead fish on his front doorstep one morning (or worse).
Yes: actually I think this is an issue to be concerned about, even if Romney wins a very close vote, say 270-268.
The common perception is that we, the people, directly elect the president in November. Constitutionally this simply isn’t true. We decide in this vote, who our state sends to represent our views at the electoral college. It is this electoral college of 538 people who constitutionally elect the president in a December vote. In short: who they vote for, legally and constitutionally, becomes president, regardless of what happened in November.
What I find amazing is that in numerous states, including Texas and Illinois, it’s not even illegal for a pledged party elector to ‘change their mind’ come voting day. They are elected based on ‘trust’ and a ‘promise’ but not even one enforced by something equivalent to perjury laws.
This, for me, would be a much easier form of voter-fraud to perpetrate than the mass-manipulation needed to swing a result on election day itself. But of course, this is America: we couldn’t see one or two of these electors being ‘got at’ and ‘changing their minds’, come voting day, could we?
I played with reasonable scenarios for a bit- definitely didn’t exhaust everything (Romney getting 1 from Maine and still a tie). There are a couple but they require things to go a little whacky along statistical lines.
At first I wasn’t sure why you sent it ... so I referred you to that other thread, think I misunderstood your reason for posting the link you posted.
Here’s one scenario that conceivably could come up ... but not likely.
http://graphics.wsj.com/MAPMAKER/#map=333303000330330333300000330333003300300033333000333
Two much likelier ‘tie’ 269-269 scenarios, I think:
Romney: McCain 2008 states + FL, NC, VA, IN, NV, CO, IA & the 1 NE vote Obama gained = 269. Obama holds OH, MI, WI, NM, NH.
Romney: McCain 2008 states + FL, NC, VA, IN, NV, CO, NM, the 1 NE vote Obama gained + 1 ME vote = 269. Obama holds OH, MI, WI, IA, NH.
Good point - I hadn’t included NE in a broken vote picture that would include one from ME. Thanks for posting.
My electoral map gives RR 321 EVs ...
I’m re-watching the debate. There is so little difference in what they’re saying that all you pick up (esp if you’re a low info voter) is that Romney is a confident happy successful man and Obama is a frustrated man who doesn’t smile and every sentence he utters sounds like he’s arguing with someone, talking down to his an invisible listener - even when it’s not in the context of an argument or disagreement.
I think he will go crazy as he ages ... fighting with imaginary stupid people on the grounds around his Hawaii estate.
Maybe Joe could serve lemonade and cookies to WH guests and entertain them with his one-liners...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.