Romney-Biden 2012?
What if this happened on election night?
What if both of the major party candidates ended up with 269 electoral votes each and neither one had the requisite majority of 270 electoral votes or more to win the presidency? You probably already know the answer. The House of Representatives would select the next president, even if that candidate lost the popular vote. Currently the Republicans enjoy a majority in the House, so a tie in the electoral college would be something advantageous to Mitt Romney. In the House, each state's delegation casts a single vote for president. This scenario would almost certainly result in victory for Romney. Republicans hold a majority in 33 state delegations to 16 delegations for the Democrats.
BUT... in the event of a tie, the vice president is elected separately by the U.S. Senate, which is still controlled by Democrats. Each senator has a single vote, and the next vice president would be chosen by a simple majority vote.
So what if the House selected Romney as President, and the Senate selected Joe Biden as Vice-President? Can you imagine four years of a Romney-Biden administration? The odds of this occurring are pretty remote, but then again, history is full of strange occurrences.
FYI, here is the text of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which addresses this problem:
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 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.
What if both of the major party candidates ended up with 269 electoral votes each and neither one had the requisite majority of 270 electoral votes or more to win the presidency? You probably already know the answer. The House of Representatives would select the next president, even if that candidate lost the popular vote. Currently the Republicans enjoy a majority in the House, so a tie in the electoral college would be something advantageous to Mitt Romney. In the House, each state's delegation casts a single vote for president. This scenario would almost certainly result in victory for Romney. Republicans hold a majority in 33 state delegations to 16 delegations for the Democrats.
BUT... in the event of a tie, the vice president is elected separately by the U.S. Senate, which is still controlled by Democrats. Each senator has a single vote, and the next vice president would be chosen by a simple majority vote.
So what if the House selected Romney as President, and the Senate selected Joe Biden as Vice-President? Can you imagine four years of a Romney-Biden administration? The odds of this occurring are pretty remote, but then again, history is full of strange occurrences.
FYI, here is the text of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which addresses this problem:
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 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.