What happens if ...

[Old Dude]

... both candidates finish with a tie in electoral votes?

Not that far-fetched, apparently. One source has them currently tied as follows:

The Kerry states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. (22 states plus DC for a total of 269 Electoral College votes)

The Bush states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. (28 states for a total of 269 Electoral College votes)


http://www.washingtondispatch.com/page2/archives/000453.html

Would a tie go to the incumbant?

Would they break the tie by looking at the popular vote?

Would the whole election be tossed into the Senate or the House? If so, which version? The one that existed prior to the election or the newly-elected one?

[Captain_Poncho]

I say they do paper rock scissors for it.

[Exile_In_SJ]

They go to congress to decide, then if that happens Bush wins because the Republicans control congress.

[Old Dude]

I guess they could just bring in the NFL's Phil Luckett to see if he can botch another coin flip.

[Hogan11]

Set up a boxing ring....tag team match, no DQ, first two out of three falls takes it.

[Exile_In_SJ]

since this whole political season has been a pissing contest, I say we have a contest, pissing for distance. farthest stream becomes President.

[Old Dude]

I'm not sure, but I think it works like this.

The incoming House votes by states among the top three candidates. Each state gets one, and only one, vote. If a state delegation is tied, that state does not vote. The first candidate to receive a majority of state delegation's votes wins. If there is no winner, there is another round of voting.

Meanwhile, the incoming Senate votes in a similar way for the Vice President.

See:
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/localstoryN0530ELECCOLL.htm

So, you could theoretically have Bush as Pres w/ Edwards as his VP, or Kerry as Pres with Cheney as his VP.

:hitself: :griese: :undecided

[Hogan11]

I'm not sure, but I think it works like this.

The incoming House votes by states among the top three candidates. Each state gets one, and only one, vote. If a state delegation is tied, that state does not vote. The first candidate to receive a majority of state delegation's votes wins. If there is no winner, there is another round of voting.

Meanwhile, the incoming Senate votes in a similar way for the Vice President.

See:
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/localstoryN0530ELECCOLL.htm

So, you could theoretically have Bush as Pres w/ Edwards as his VP, or Kerry as Pres with Cheney as his VP.

:hitself: :griese: :undecided

That would be interesting to say the least...I don't believe the President and VP have ever been from two different parties have they?

[Exile_In_SJ]

not in the modern era, I think there was in the early days

[Old Dude]

I think there was a time, way back when, when the runner-up for Pres was named VP.

Must have made things real cozy.

[Taco John]

I think there was a time, way back when, when the runner-up for Pres was named VP.

Must have made things real cozy.



I bet that would actually be fun if you were the VP.

[Hercules Rockefeller]

I think there was a time, way back when, when the runner-up for Pres was named VP.

Must have made things real cozy.

Yep. Adams was GW's Veep and Jefferson was Adams Veep.

[Old Dude]

I think it would be more fun to be your opponent's press secretary.

[Exile_In_SJ]

your opponents IRS director.......

you keep getting calls from all your big donation guys complaining about all the @ss-reamings the IRS can do..

[alkemical]

if there is an election

[TexanBob]

First, all the electors have to vote. If one elector switches sides, it's 270-268 and you'd go no further (and that elector joins the Witness Protection program).

But assuming all the electors do their normal thing and it is still tied, the 50 state delegations in the House of Representatives get one vote per state. Assuming these votes are along party lines, Bush would probably win, 29-21.

Next, you can expect the Democrats to sue for a recount while divining the intent of how the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam would have voted. So the whole thing would then wind up back in the U.S. Supreme Court in order for the Democrats to continue their nutty conspiracy theories about right-wing courts selecting the president, etc.

[TexanBob]

Set up a boxing ring....tag team match, no DQ, first two out of three falls takes it.

Mountain biking in Crawford. First to fall off their bike loses.

[alkemical]

what about off the wagon?