Posted on 10/26/2012 5:41:36 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Is it possible that Harry Reid could end up as vice president in a Romney Administration?
Yes it is, and here's how it could happen.
In order to win the presidency, a candidate must win a simple majority of the 538 available electorate college votes, which amounts to a minimum of 270 or more.
Since 538 is divisible by 2, that means that there could be a tie if each candidate should happen to win 269 votes.
In the unlikely scenario that there is a split decision in the electoral college, the constitutional solution would be the following:
The House of Representatives would nominate and vote to determine the winner of the office of the presidency. Since the House is controlled by the Republicans it's a foregone conclusion that Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, would become our next president.
On the VP side, the Senate would make the selection. Nominations would take place and the full Senate would then vote to determine who the next vice president would be.
Since the Senate is controlled by the Democrats, it's certain that a Democrat would be nominated and selected to serve as VP in the new Romney administration. But, it's not certain that the senate would necessarily nominate and select Joe Biden for the VP slot. The Senate could essentially nominate anyone they choose. As the Senate majority leader, it's very possible that Harry Reid could submit himself as the nominee for the senate to vote on.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
But it's not a simple vote, right? Each state gets 1 vote, not 1 per representative. A numerical advantage in representatives might not matter then. For example in states like my own state of NJ its obvious the result will be a vote for the democrat. And in Alabama you'll get a vote for the Republican. But in states where there are a more even mix of parties could end up voting democrat. Also some states have very few representatives but since all states get a single vote, they get a much higher influence on the outcome than usual. Think Maine, for example, which has only two congressional districts; in a simple vote they are 2 votes 535 but in this scenario they are 1 vote out of 50.
I haven't done the analysis to see how many such states exist but if it's enough the vote in congress could still go to Obama.
Reid is unqualified for that role.
Actually, the new Senators are sworn in on January 3, 2013 and the Special Joint Session to enumerate and approve the Electoral College votes follows.
What is true is that, should the choice of a VP fall to the Senate, that President of the Senate Biden would preside until noon on January 20, at which time his tenure in office would end. He could in fact break a 50-50 tie by voting for himself, presuming that Republicans are +3 in January and all Senators from each party stay faithful.
It is very difficult to envision a deadlocked Senate since they are limited by the Constitution to two and only two candidates, and the President of the Senate is there to break ties.
This is unlike the House Presidential election, where there may be three candidates (presuming three persons receive at least one electoral vote), so that a deadlock would be possible.
This is one of those amazing things about the authors of the Constitution - they thought of everything! Yes, the House could be deadlocked, so they limited the Senate to two choices and an odd number of voting members, so that if no President were chosen, there would always be a legal Vice President able to serve.
No officeholder would get anywhere NEAR Capitol Hill for months on end due to inner city massive riots.
In the House, for the vote for President, each state would have only one vote, so the individual delegations would have to decide how they would vote. And the vote would keep going until some candiate got twenty six votes.
In the senate, for the vote for Vice-President, each senator would have a vote, and since there would be only two candidates to choose from (the top two candidates reported to the congress by the electoral college), the vote in the senate would likely be quick.
Cotton, could you provide me with the information that states the House voting continues until a candidate gets 26 votes? I ask because I heard on the radio a couple of days ago that if the House vote ended in a 25-25 tie, that then the Senate vote for V.P. would become POTUS.
So, the scenario on the radio was that Romney could win the popular vote, tie in the College, tie in the House vote, and lose to a Senate vote for Biden as VP, who would then be sworn in as POTUS.
Thanks for the info, as I find the EC extremely interesting.
The House would have to continue to vote until somebody has a majority. If the House did not choose a president by January 20th then the vice-president chosen by the electoral college (or the senate) would become acting president until the House gets to a majority. So the VP would become president but it would not be a permanent position. Essentially what this means is that the executive power of the people must be vested in somebody, and it would be vested in the VP until a president would have been chosen. If the senate is likewise deadlocked in the the choice of VP, then the executive power would pass temporarily to the Speaker of the House, then the Senate President pro Tempore, etc, under the law.
The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. - 12th Amendment
If you want to read more about what happened in these situations in real life, read about the elections of 1800, 1824, and 1876, when the House had to choose the president. 1876 especially was an electoral mess and was brought up in the 2000 election fiasco.
We have a massive advantage in States. The Dem’s EV’s come from a small number of states.
Could Harry Reid Become VP Under Romney?
That will never happen. It’s going to be a blow out for Romney/Ryan.
Congress will still need to grow some balls, to stop the Kenyans Executive order rampage, between the election and packing time.
Hopefully all of “O’s” Executive orders will be reversed by Romney on Jan. 21. All 953 of them.
Yes, this is highly improbably especially since Mitt will likely get between 308 and 330 electoral votes. I think Paul Ryan as VP is a safe bet.
The members of the Electoral College will know going in the expected result, and enormous pressure will be put on individual electors to switch. If all hold to their party, would not be surprised if the D’s play a new game - all their electors swap the P and VP roles so Obama is their VP choice, thus the winner of the VP slot if the new Congress is controlled by the Democrats (including with Biden presiding over a 50-50 split).
Life could be very interesting - all the more reason to work our hardest to make sure it’s not even close.
Romney would never do that to a fellow elite, a temple Mormon, and a man who is on his way to becoming a God. Doing that to Reid could prevent Mitt from ever becoming a God.
So, how does that also cut the other way? Specifically Reid’s accusation that he had a secret inside source at Bain who told him Romney hadn’t been paying taxes?
Does that mean that Reid is no longer god-tracked?
I’m sure that they can disagree in business and do politics, but I don’t think that they could commit themselves to pursuing such a committed, years long, and hostile course of humiliation and degradation, towards a fellow Temple Recommend subordinate, as a government official, or probably in any other situation.
Well, there has sure been a lot of press about this happening.
Even The Great One, Mark Levin, talked about this yesterday (I think yesterday). He talked pretty extensively about this.
Why so much talk about this happening. Preparing us for the rig?
Reid is unqualified for that role."
HA, HA! True that!
Technically possible. Just like it’s technically possible that you could have different people win the popular and electoral vote. But there’s only ever been three presidents that won the electoral vote without a popular-vote lead, Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and Dubya. There’s only been two presidents that got elected by the House, Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, and Adams is the only one under the current law, the Twelfth Amendment. And there’s only one vice president that got elected by the Senate, Richard Johnson, Martin Van Buren’s running mate in 1836. So technically possible, but very, very rare. If you’re really that worried about it, get out and help win.
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