Thursday, October 01, 2020

To Choose A President

 It's interesting the way we choose a President, and have done so or over 200 years.  The rules are plain to see in our Constitution.  A state chooses a set of electors who then elect a president.  We call this the Electoral College.  If the Electoral College cannot decide on a president; if the vote is tied, the responsibility to elect the president then devolves to the House of Representatives.

And here is Nancy Pelosi's quandary and worst nightmare.  Under both Article II, Section I, and the 12th Amendment, when the responsibility to elect a president falls on the House of Representatives, the vote falls not to individual electors, but to the state delegation as a whole.  Each state gets one vote.

If my count is correct, the Republicans hold 26 state delegations.  This, under the current scenario, Should the election be thrown into the House,  Nancy Pelosi may preside over an election that gives Donald Trump a second term.

The irony is delectable.

2 comments:

Dave said...

What would matter, I think, is state delegations after November's elections. Which might change things.

Now, what happens if that ends in a 25-25 tie?

Termite said...

It would be the new Congress sworn in January 2021, that would vote on the President.

Interesting article here: https://time.com/4482377/electoral-college-tie/