BF2S Forums Electoral College Tie == Obama/Palin presidency...what!?!?

@Oug: Athens isn't a shithole, I quite liked it actually. Traffic is a bit mad and the area around Omonia Square is a dump but the city centre was nice.

CameronPoe wrote:

@Oug: Athens isn't a shithole, I quite liked it actually. Traffic is a bit mad and the area around Omonia Square is a dump but the city centre was nice.

sure he's not talking about Athens, Georgia, USA?

And yes. Cookie. Way to be alert!

phetal, instead of editing to apologise for a double post, edit the content of your second post back into your first?

Just a helpful, handy suggestion from your resident homeless poster.

Harmor wrote:

There a very good chance this presidential election that there will be an electoral tie (269/269).  In such a case the 12th amendment of the Constitution will come into play:

Amendment 12 - Choosing the President, Vice-President. Ratified 6/15/1804.

The person having the greatest Number of votes, which I'll assume that Obama will win the popular vote, will become president.

The newly elected congress will be seated (a majority democrats) and then each state will have 1 vote to determine the President of the Senate (aka The Vice President).

Now here's the funny thing...since Republicans have more 'small states' Sarah Palin would become the President of the Senate and thus the Vice President.

Can I have a cookie?

Whoever gave this guy a cookie needs to get slapped because this is absolutely not how it works.  In case of an inability to garner 270 electoral votes, whether by tie or any other reason, the House of Representatives then votes on who shall be President.  The electoral college meets and casts its votes in mid-December, and if no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives then convenes immediately and casts their vote among the candidates (now limited to the three candidates who got the most electoral votes).  Ergo, it will the the 110th Congress (the current session) who votes in this scenario, not the 111th Congress, since the 111th will not be sworn in until January.

For the scenario of no Vice-Presidential candidate garnering 270 electoral votes, the same procedures apply except it is now the Senate that chooses who wins the spot.

For both votes, it is just like any other vote: a majority of votes is required to win, and every Representative or Senator gets one vote.

Since both houses of Congress are Democratically-controlled, it is all but inevitable that any vote devolving to Congress will result in an Obama/Biden abomination.  Your scenario of cross-party tickets is possible, but not under the current circumstances.

I don't know where you got this Obama/Palin idea, but whoever gave it to you is givin' ya the business.

Last edited by HollisHurlbut (2008-10-07 23:50:26)

Me?  The Twelfth Amendment.  It's linked in the OP.