[EL] Does 269-269 worsen the faithless elector problem?

[John Koza]

State legislatures should give some attention to, and pass, the Uniform Law
Commission's "Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act."  The Act has
several of the features of North Carolina's current law. The Act provides a
statutory remedy in the event a presidential elector fails to vote in
accordance with the voters of his or her state. The Act has a
state-administered pledge of faithfulness, with any attempt by an elector to
submit a vote in violation of that pledge, effectively constituting
resignation from the office of elector. The proposed uniform law calls for
the election of both electors and alternate electors. The Act provides a
mechanism for filling a vacancy created for that reason or any other.  

 

 

Dr. John R. Koza

Box 1441

Los Altos Hills, California 94023 USA

Phone: 650-941-0336

Fax: 650-941-9430

Email: john at johnkoza.com

URL: www.johnkoza.com 

URL: www.NationalPopularVote.com

 

From: Derek Muller [mailto:derek.muller at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 5:15 PM
To: Election Law
Subject: [EL] Does 269-269 worsen the faithless elector problem?

 

Dear all,

 

Perhaps one of you knows the answer to this problem. If the electoral vote
is tied at 269, the race is thrown to the House of Representatives, where,
it is assumed, Mitt Romney would win.

 

But, I imagine that there would be a significant amount of canvassing of Mr.
Romney's electors by Barack Obama's team in an attempt to win over just one
of those electors and break the tie. After all, we would likely know most of
the electors shortly after November 6, but the electors would not cast
ballots until December 17.

 

Additionally, the contingent election in the 12th Amendment allows for the
top three electoral vote-getters to be voted on in the House. If it's
269-269, isn't there a great incentive for, say, one of Mr. Obama's electors
to vote for Jill Stein, or one of Mr. Romney's electors to vote for Gary
Johnson or Ron Paul? Then, we might have an even more absurd contingent
election: 269 electoral votes for Mr. Obama; 268 electoral votes for Mitt
Romney; 1 vote for Ron Paul; top three thrown into the House. (Which adds an
additional problem: what if there are several candidates who each receive a
single castaway electoral vote? Who wins the coveted third slot before the
House if Ms. Stein, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Paul all receive 1 electoral vote?)

 

Best,

 

Derek

 

Derek T. Muller

Associate Professor of Law

Pepperdine University School of Law

24255 Pacific Coast Hwy.

Malibu, CA 90263

+1 310-506-7058

SSRN Author Page:  <http://ssrn.com/author=464341>
http://ssrn.com/author=464341

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