So, what happens when the next president is not selected by the Electoral College?  This may be a relevant question if a third party candidate can actually win a state or two.  Is this possible?  Maybe -  Nader has thrown his hat into the ring, and although Bloomberg has said he is not running, some people think that he may just be biding his time.  The problem is if that third party picks up enough votes to prevent a candidate from getting the 270  needed to become the president-elect.

If that happens, the House of Representatives goes into emergency session to choose the next president.  But, it is not a straight vote - each state votes as a block.  The candidate needs a majority, 26 states, to win.  If a state's representatives split evenly on the vote, then the state is thrown out.  If you  take the current Congress and assume that each representative is going to vote for his/her party's candidate, then it would fall out like this: 26 Democrat, 21 Republican and 3 ties.  So, the Democrat candidate would win.  But, of course, it is not that simple.  A shift of only one or two states could move some states from the D to the R column, or representatives voting in line with their state's general election results could change things.  In that case, the House would be deadlocked, and the job would fall to the Vice-President Elect, who is chosen by the Senate.

In the Senate, the Vice-President elect has to get 51 votes, and the current VP can not vote.  Right now, with Lieberman caucusing with the Democrats, that would be enough to elect the Democrat Vice-Presidential candidate.  If he chooses not to, then the Senate is deadlocked as well, and the job then goes to the Speaker of the House.

That's right - President Pelosi.

Sweet dreams...

Posted by: jcallery at 09:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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