US election question

[Minnesota]

Is it possible for the Bush and Kerry to tie the electoral college votes?  If possible, then how do they determine who wins the election?

Thanks

S-

[Ouisch]

According to Article II section 1 (later modified by the Twelfth Amendment), in the event of a tie in the Electoral College, the House of Representatives chooses the President by simple majority ballot of the states.

 

The 12th Amendment provided the following remedies:

-separate ballots are used for president and vice president
-the candidates with the greatest number of votes for each office will be elected if that number constitutes a majority of the total electors
-if a majority for the president is lacking, the House of Representatives shall vote by state from among the three highest candidates
-if a majority for the vice president is lacking, the Senate shall vote by state from among the two highest candidates
-the vice president must meet the same constitutional requirements as provided for the president.

[bernardo]

Brilliant answer by Ouisch to the second part.  The answer to the first part is yes, because the Electoral College is 538 and therefore it is possible for there to be a 269-269 split.  The procedure explained by Ouisch is followed if there is a 269-269 split between two candidates, or if there is a minority of less than 269 for each or three or more candidates.

[Minnesota]

ok...i am probably going to be embarrassed asking this next question, but I was wondering what you mean by 3 or more candidates?  Are you including the VPs as well?  Or is the independents such as Nader?

Much thanks.

[bernardo]

Yes - I mean other candidates for the President.  There are normally only two main ones, but sometimes there are other candidates who have strong local support in some states.  For example, in 1968 George Wallace won three states as an independent candidate (with 13% of the votes), and in 1948 Strom Thurmond won four states as a States Rights candidate (with 5% of the votes).  If either of those elections had been very close between the two main candidates, the number of seats won in the Electoral College by the third candidate might have been enough to prevent either of the two main ones from getting up to the 270 needed.

 

Talking of Ralph Nader - even if he did really well and won 15% or 20% of the votes, it would not be a problem unless his support were concentrated geographically enough to make him win somewhere like California.  In 1992 Ross Perot stood as an independent candidate and got 19% of the votes, but not enough to win any state.  The 5% of the votes which Strom Thurmond got in 1948 were heavily concentrated in just a few states in the South, so he was able to win a few states.