by Kerby Anderson: As we get closer to Election Day, some people are asking the "what if" question. What if the ballots in some states aren't confirmed by the time the Electoral College meets in December? What if neither presidential candidate wins the Electoral College vote? Those are important questions that I hope we don't have to answer in real life, but here are how those questions should be decided according to the Constitution. The procedure is set forth in Article II of the Constitution and modified by the addition of the 12th Amendment. The House of Representatives meets to vote for the president. You might assume that would be good news for Joe Biden since there are more Democrats in that chamber. But this would be the newly elected House members, which may or may not be majority Democrat.
If you look at the Constitution, you will see that doesn't matter anyway. Each state delegation gets one vote. California gets one vote even though they have 52 representatives in Congress, while Wyoming gets one vote. Currently, there are more states (27) with Republicans than Democrats. Assuming those state delegations vote along party lines, that would be good news for Donald Trump.
What about the vote for Vice-President? In this case, the Senate would vote for the Vice-President. Although it is unlikely, it would be possible that the president who is selected and the vice-president who is selected could be from different parties. That has happened before in American politics but not since the 19th century.
What if the House of Representatives fails to select the president by Inauguration Day? The 20th Amendment specifies the vice-president-elect becomes the acting president until the House selects a president. But if neither chamber selects a president or vice-president, then the Speaker of the House becomes president on Inauguration Day.
If you are troubled by all of this, I suggest you start praying that none of this happens and that you make sure you vote this year. ----------------Kerby Anderson @KerbyAnderson) is an author, lecturer, visiting professor and radio host and contributor on nationally syndicated Point of View and the "Probe" radio programs.
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