Posted on 08/21/2020 11:24:33 AM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion
According to Rush, President Trump quoted a claim that in the case of chaos in the Electoral College the Speaker of the House could become President.
IMHO that cannot be the meaning of the Twelfth Amendment:
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;
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.
The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice- President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
In the event of a failure of the Electoral College to deliver an absolute majority to a single presidential campaign, the House of Representatives will elect the president. One problem which occurs is the possibility that if mail-in voting throws the presidential election into confusion, what is to say that it won’t do the same thing to the House? In that scenario it would be possible that enough House seats could be in doubt to prevent the prompt election of the Speaker.
But that consideration aside, in that scenario each congressmen would have one vote to decide the one vote of his state’s congressional delegation rather than in the whole House at large. This is a large joker in the scenario. It means that the single congressman representing Alaska, say, gets 1/50th of the say in the election of the POTUS in that scenario. There is a systematic tendency of the Republicans to do better in small states than the Democrats do, and it is easy to imagine that the Democrats might win the majority of the Representatives in Congress and thus be able to elect the Speaker but it is significantly less likely that the Democrats will control a majority of the congressional delegations of the states.
Also notice that unless the Speaker of the House gets at least the third-most Electoral College votes, the House isn’t authorized to elect her/him POTUS.
I don’t think its the future house members that decides but rather the current house members.
>>Also notice that unless the Speaker of the House gets at least the third-most Electoral College votes, the House isn’t authorized to elect her/him POTUS.
But that only takes 1 rogue elector.
a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states
Can you just imagine the $h1t storm if the House chose Pelosi?
Just for reference, I counted it up the other day. As of the current term, House delegations are 26R-22D with 2 tied.
Would be a great education in the Constitution with a myriad of unanswered questions.
All that really matters, then, is who would John Roberts wish to be prez.
We need to research further, but as I recall, if there were no president chosen by January 20th, and no vice president chosen, then the Speaker of the House would be acting president until such time as a president is chosen. If there is a vice president chosen, the vice president would be acting president until a president is chosen.
This is an important point, if true, which we need to research. I certainly hope it doesn’t mean that Nancy P. becomes president for the entire four year term.
“ Can you just imagine the $h1t storm if the House chose Pelosi?”
More like a lead storm, but yeah...
Pelosi will not be made President.
If I recall correctly, under current law, the electoral college votes on a certain date in mid-December.
Theoretically this mid-December dates gives states plenty of time to count mail in ballots and certify their results from the November 3 election so that the states electors can be certified to be electors.
What if there is so much chaos in mail in votes and counting problems, that some states will not certify their electors??? That’s something to think about.
Is the requirement that a president be chosen by a majority of total electors, meaning 270 out of 538, or a majority of those electors certified by the mid-December deadline? In a close election, we could see a Supreme Court decision on that question, if election laws or the constitution are not clear on that specific topic.
‘Just for reference, I counted it up the other day. As of the current term, House delegations are 26R-22D with 2 tied.’
That being the case , President Trump would be re-relected with a majority of the states voting for him which is the magic number of 26 votes.
In short, CA and NY get 1 vote each in that scenario. Does not take a rocket scientist to understand the limitations that puts on the D’s ability to steal the election when WY will cancel CA.
And one vote per state. Republican majority states 26 PA is split. 23 dem.
Can you just imagine the $h1t storm if the House chose Pelosi?
Yea could you imagine Pelosi President and the Senate picks Trump as vice-president!
Is the requirement that a president be chosen by a majority of total electors, meaning 270 out of 538, or a majority of those electors certified by the mid-December deadline? In a close election, we could see a Supreme Court decision on that question, if election laws or the constitution are not clear on that specific topic.>>> There are enough states to foil the 270. ( Yes it says majority which would be 270) But when the house votes it is by state and right now that is 26R 23D 1 split. given all of the republican reps vote for trump.
As I understand it it’s current house members that vote, not the newly elected. And it’s based on one vote per state, not membership. Currently Republicans lead 26-22, so that will be the breakdown. The date electors meet to vote is set by Congress, first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, but I suppose could be changed. If states can’t agree on the composition of their electors and don’t send them, unless one candidate gets an absolute majority of 270, then the vote goes to the House under the rules above, which would seem to benefit Republicans, and would certainly be a deterrent to states not selecting electors
——Currently Republicans lead 26-22——
AAhhh....... that makes me feel much better.
Total electors, 270. However it it goes to the House where each state delegation gets one vote, I believe it's a majority of the states present. 2/3 of the states constituting a quorum. Since that would be states in the House, not electors, it's hard to imagine over 17 states not showing up which is the circumstance Nancy Pelosi would become President. But not impossible, since there are 22 Dem states.
If she were to become President, I'm sure it would be for a 4 year term. There's nothing to suggest otherwise. But that scenario is extremely unlikely since only 2/3 of the states have to show up for the House vote. It's hard to imagine 18 of 22 Dem House delegations wouldn't show up which it is what it would take to deny a quorum. Most of those 22 states have Republican House members who wouldn't stay home.
-PJ
I have always thought this was her end game.
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