[EL] An Electoral College Tie?

[Rob Richie]

Justin's partially correct about the fact that falling short of an
Electoral College majority is what triggers a "one-vote-per-state" vote in
the US House for president, with the Senate voting to pick the
vice-president.

What's missing is that there is an interim step -- what happens when the
electors meet. We generally assume that electors will be "faithful" and
vote for the candidate slate they represented in the election, but there's
no guarantee that they will do so. That lack of a guarantee ordinarily
doesn't come into play, but it easily could come into play if no candidate
wins an Electoral College majority.

Take the 1968 election as an example, That year, if just 1.6% of voters in
California had voted for Humphrey instead of Nixon, then Humphrey would
have won California's electoral votes and no candidate would have an
Electoral College majority. George Wallace would have been sitting pretty,
as he could have negotiated with the major parties for the White House.
(Indeed, if Wallace would have gone back in time, he might have urged his
California voters to back Humphrey -- if half of them had done so, Humphrey
would have won California, thereby putting Wallace in the catbird seat.)

Given Wallace's stance on segregation that year, you can imagine what his
asking price would have been been. The author James Michener wrote a
fascinating book about his experience as a Pennsylvania elector for
Humphrey that year, and how he would have led a movement for Humphrey
electors to back Nixon to avoid Wallace bargaining for the presidency.

The bylaws of Americans Elect allow its nominee to direct his or her
electors to vote for someone other than that candidate -- presumably in
exchange for the recipient committing to various expressions of
transpartisan governance.

- Rob Richie

On Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 1:23 PM, Justin Levitt <levittj at lls.edu> wrote:

>  It's not just a tie that could send the election to the House of
> Representatives ... I believe it's any lack of a majority.  If, for
> example, the Americans Elect candidate wins enough electoral votes to
> deprive either the Republican nominee or the Democratic nominee of an
> Electoral College majority, the House decides the election.
>
> Justin
>
> --
> Justin Levitt
> Associate Professor of Law
> Loyola Law School | Los Angeles
> 919 Albany St.
> Los Angeles, CA  90015213-736-7417justin.levitt at lls.edussrn.com/author=698321
>
>
>
> On 12/15/2011 9:37 AM, Dan Johnson wrote:
>
> I'd love to see opponents of the National Popular Vote mount a robust
> defense of the House of Representatives in a one-vote-per-state-delegation
> selecting the President (the result of a not-implausible tie in electoral
> votes).
>
>  Because, after all, that is what they are defending. A tie will
> eventually occur. Let us hope that the National Popular Vote compact is
> established and confirmed by the Supreme Court before that mathematical
> certainty rears its ugly head.
>
>  Dan
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 11:24 AM, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:
>
>>   “An Electoral College Tie?” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26579>
>> Posted on December 15, 2011 9:18 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=26579>
>> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> *National Journal* ponders<http://decoded.nationaljournal.com/2011/12/an-electoral-college-tie.php>
>> .
>>
>
>  --
> Dan Johnson
>
> Partner
> Korey Cotter Heater and Richardson, LLC
> 111 West Washington, Suite 1920
> Chicago, Illinois 60602
>
>  http://www.kchrlaw.com
>
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Justin Levitt
> Associate Professor of Law
> Loyola Law School | Los Angeles
> 919 Albany St.
> Los Angeles, CA  90015213-736-7417justin.levitt at lls.edussrn.com/author=698321
>
>
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