Posted on 07/12/2012 12:37:53 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The Times' Paul West offered a provocative bit of speculation Wednesday: There's a non-remote chance that the presidential election will end up in an electoral college deadlock, with President Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney tied at 269.
Wrote West:
"All it would take for that to happen: President Obama carries most of the states he won in 2008, including Colorado and Virginia, swing states now rated as tossups. Mitt Romney holds the states that John McCain won last time, recaptures Republican Indiana and North Carolina and carries five swing states that are current tossups, Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa and Nevada."
Granted, "all it would take" doesn't quite convey the difficulty each man faces in some of those states, but the outcome West predicted is at least plausible.
And if it happens, the Constitution calls for the House of Representatives to decide who'll be the next president. Barring a titanic shift in fortunes that enables the Democrats to reclaim that chamber, the House's GOP majority would hand the presidency to Romney.
There's a precedent for this: The House chose Thomas Jefferson at the turn of the 19th century and John Quincy Adams six elections later. And because the process is clearly laid out in the Constitution, it's likely to cause less grumbling among the electorate than, say, having the Supreme Court decide the outcome with a bizarre one-off ruling....
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
No.
So, I went with the Constitution (answer 1).
I doubt that he has put in much range time—then again Mitt probably hasn’t either—so I would rate it a pure tossup. At least we would be rid of one of them and maybe we would get lucky and they both would die. Then the vice-presidential candidates can duel, and age would certainly be against Biden.
This poll needs FReeping. The idiots who have answered so far favor giving the presidency to the highest vote getter, an action that would severely damage the interests of all residents outside of NY and CA. There is a reason the Founders established the Electoral College.
the House’s GOP majority would hand the presidency to Romney.
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Works for me.
It doesn’t matter what this poll says; The Constitution says the House of Representatives chooses.
By diffusing the vote across a large and growing country in which geographically diverse electors had to vote on a single day, it would render corruption, intrigue and deal making difficult.
That is why we have an electoral college.
According to the little-known 54th Amendment, the President will be Vladimir Putin and we will all be speaking Russian.
Seems to me I remember “what if” articles like this back in 2008. Didn’t happen, did it?
“They still haven’t gotten over Bush vs. Gore?”
Well, of course they haven’t. If they could have continued counting for a few more days, Gore would have obviously won. Worked for Stewart Smalley.
If the House decides, are they limited to one of the candidates on the national ballot? If it was a Republican House could they pick Ryan or Walker or somebody other than Romney?
NEWT
The House is required to choose from any of the top 5 vote getters, in this case, "vote" means Electoral College vote. Anyone who secured at least 1 EV would probably be eligible, as it's unlikely that there would be 6 or more people earning at least 1 EV.
Just the question tells us how sure they know that Obama is a loser.
The House votes for President by state delegation, not by members. Even if the Democrats recapture the House (and Obama ties in the electoral college - unlikely) the Republicans are still likely to maintain the majority of state delegations. When electing a President in the House, California counts the same as Montana or Alaska.
Thanks - very interesting.
So, in principle, a couple of rogue members of the Electoral College could cast votes for someone not even on the national ballot, generate a tie in the Electoral College, and set up that individual for election by the tie-breaking procedure in the House (all while ticking off most of the country, I guess).
I’m not figuring on that happening, mind you, but it might make for an entertaining political novel, especially among those who enjoy a good conspiracy theory.
Yes. And technically it doesn't have to be a tie, as long as no one gains over 50% of the total vote (i.e., 270 EV). It could be something like 269-268-1 and still fall to the House, even though one candidate does have a plurality.
Barring a titanic shift in fortunes that enables the Democrats to reclaim that chamber, the House's GOP majority would hand the presidency to Romney.
The GOP can hold the majority in the house, but if the Dims have the majority of reps in 26 states they get to chose.
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