Umm, what happens in a 269-269 tie?

[mrgorth]

Please tell me not the SCOTUS. And the tie IS possible.

[UpsideDownFlag]

1. the tie is possible, and supposedly the house decides.

so we'd still be phuct.

[Radical Activist]

13. The House was supposed to deal with it last time

That's where Presidential election disputes are supposed to be dealt with, but they were too chicken-shit to follow their Constitutional role. Except for the members of the Black Caucus, who did exactly what the founding fathers would have expected.

[UpsideDownFlag]

18. my point was that even if it correctly goes to congress

the pubbies own it.

[mairceridwen]

2. it goes to the house, right?

and then Bush wins.

Or something like that.

[AlCzervik]

3. congress picks

cheney will cast the deciding vote for Bush and i think that the house picks the vp. if i'm wrong someone will correct me.

[SaveElmer]

17. Other way around

House picks prez, Senate VP

[bowens43]

4. bush wins

it goes to the house for a vote

[madinmaryland]

5. The election is thrown into the house of representatives.

They then hash it out. I think it would be based on the next house of reps, and not the current group. (i.e. it would be done after Jan. 3, 2005) So we don't know who will control the house then.

[Walt Starr]

6. The House decides and Bush wins

Kerry needs 270 EV minimum while Bush only needs for Kerry to get 269 or fewer. He doesn't even need 269 because some scenarios could have Kerry with 269 and Bush with 268 while others abstain, etc.

[mrgorth]

7. So we got to win this mother hucker

BUT GOOD!

[maine_raptor]

8. What Happens?

It goes to the House, where each State has ONE vote. DeLay and his thugs get to work and Bush enjoys playing Boy Wonder for the next four years.

Me? I find the nearest whiskey bottle and crawl in.

[9119495]

11. Are you sure about that?

If so, we're srewed because they will get the South and Western Desert states.

[maine_raptor]

12. Pretty sure. But if you doubt, Read the Constitution

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jsheriff]

10. But John Edwards could be VP

While the Presidential election gets thrown to the House, the VP election goes to the Senate. So you get a very curious situation. If the Repubs. control the House and the Dems. control the Senate (not an unlikely scenario), then we could end up with Bush as President and John Edwards as Vice-President.

On the other hand, if the Senate is split evenly, then you get the unusual situation of Dick Cheney breaking the tie and re-electing himself as Vice President. Talk about an advantage to being an incumbant!

[madinmaryland]

14. Attached is Artical II, Section 1 of the Constitution - Long Post

Article. II.
Section. 1.
Clause 1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows

Clause 2: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

Clause 3: The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List 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 shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing 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. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President. (See Note 8)

Clause 4: The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

Clause 5: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

Clause 6: In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, (See Note 9) the Same shall devolve on the VicePresident, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

Clause 7: The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Clause 8: Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

[madinmaryland]

15. I forgot Note 8

Note 8: This Clause has been superseded by amendment XII.

Amendment XII:

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,
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

<[Page 1548>]
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.

ELECTION OF PRESIDENT

This Amendment,\1\ which supersedes clause 3 of Sec. 1 of
Article II, was adopted so as to make impossible the situation occurring
after the election of 1800 in which Jefferson and Burr received tie
votes in the electoral college, thus throwing the selection of a
President into the House of Representatives, despite the fact that the
electors had intended Jefferson to be President and Burr to be Vice-
President.\2\ The difference between the procedure which it defines and
that which was laid down originally is in the provision it makes for a
separate designation by the electors of their choices for President and
Vice-President, respectively. As a consequence of the disputed election
of 1870, Congress has enacted a statute providing that if the vote of a
State is not certified by the governor under seal, it shall not be
counted unless both Houses of Congress concur.\3\

\1\A number of provisions of the Amendment have been superseded
by the Twentieth Amendment.
\2\Cunningham, Election of 1800, in 1 History of American
Presidential Elections 101 (A. Schlesinger ed., 1971).
\3\3 U.S.C. Sec. 15.

[zbdent]

16. Then the Right Wingers declare civil war

and surround the WH.

Remember, we liberals are the non-gun-carryin' wimps, according to the propaganda . . .