[EL] An Electoral College Tie?

[Richard Winger]

I don't believe we should be so frightened of the idea that a winning presidential candidate might have received only 40% of the total popular vote.  45 of the 50 states elect their Governors like that.  Whoever gets the most votes wins, period.  Louisiana, Washington, California and Georgia force a majority vote by having a round with only two candidates on the ballot, and Vermont lets the legislature choose when no one gets a majority for Governor.  In the other 45 states, a winning gubernatorial candidate just needs more votes than anyone else.

The lowest share of the popular vote any winning gubernatorial candidate ever got in the last 170 years was in Washington state in 1912, when the Democratic nominee, Ernest Lister, won with only 30.6% of the popular vote.  In that election, the Republican nominee got 30.4% and the Progressive nominee got 24.4%.

Richard Winger

415-922-9779

PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147

--- On Thu, 12/15/11, Scarberry, Mark <Mark.Scarberry at pepperdine.edu> wrote:

From: Scarberry, Mark <Mark.Scarberry at pepperdine.edu>
Subject: Re: [EL] An Electoral College Tie?
To: "law-election at department-lists.uci.edu" <law-election at department-lists.uci.edu>
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011, 11:02 AM

In such a case, would we really want the national plurality vote winner (perhaps with 40% of the vote) to become President?  Perhaps if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral vote then, instead of the current system or the national popular vote system, there should be a choice of the President either by a joint session of Congress or by vote of the House (with each member having one vote).  Of course that would require a constitutional amendment, but in my view it would also take a constitutional amendment to move to a popular vote system, at least to one that has a blackout period like the proposed NPVIC.   Mark  Mark S. ScarberryPepperdine Univ. School of LawMalibu, CA 90263(310)506-4667  From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Justin Levitt
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 10:23 AM
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] An Electoral College Tie?  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 LevittAssociate Professor of LawLoyola Law School | Los Angeles919 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?” Posted on December 15, 2011 9:18 am by Rick Hasen National Journal ponders.  -- 
Dan Johnson

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-- Justin LevittAssociate Professor of LawLoyola Law School | Los Angeles919 Albany St.Los Angeles, CA  90015213-736-7417justin.levitt at lls.edussrn.com/author=698321
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