What happens if neither candidate wins electoral votes

That means it could be good news for Trump if the race goes to the House. In the Senate, members vote individually for the next vice president. If Republicans continue to hold the majority following the Nov. Members of the newly elected Congress would be the ones to vote for the president and vice president. Facebook Twitter Email. There is no Federally-required process to follow if a candidate who is projected to receive electoral votes dies or becomes incapacitated between the general election and the meeting of electors.

However, individual States may have their own requirements that govern how electors must vote at the meeting of the electors. In , when Horace Greeley passed away between Election Day and the meeting of electors, the electors who were slated to vote for Greeley voted for various candidates, including Greeley.

The votes cast for Greeley were not counted due to a House resolution passed regarding the matter. Section 3 of the 20th Amendment states that the Vice President elect will become President if the President elect dies or becomes incapacitated. If a winning Presidential candidate dies or becomes incapacitated between the counting of electoral votes in the Congress and the inauguration, the Vice President elect will become President, according to Section 3 of the 20th Amendment.

Title 3 of the United States Code establishes procedures for the Electoral College process and requires that States settle any controversies regarding their electors at least 6 calendar days before the meeting of the electors.

It is up to Congress to determine what to do in the event one or more States cannot meet the statutory deadlines. However, the Constitution does not require that States appoint electors based on the popular vote, so a State may be able to resolve the controversy under State law, appoint electors, and issue a Certificate even if a recount is pending.

Even if a State is unable to resolve a controversy by the statutory deadline, nothing prevents the State from appointing electors. Resolving controversies before the statutory deadline eliminates the potential for one type of challenge during the counting of the votes in Congress. See 3 U. It is important to remember that the President is not chosen by a national popular vote. The Electoral College vote totals determine the winner, not the statistical plurality or majority a candidate may have in the national popular vote totals.

Electoral votes are awarded on the basis of the popular vote in each state. Note that 48 out of the 50 States award Electoral votes on a winner-takes-all basis as does the District of Columbia.

In a multi-candidate race where candidates have strong regional appeal, as in , it is quite possible that a candidate who collects the most votes on a nation-wide basis will not win the electoral vote. In a two-candidate race, that is less likely to occur. This also occurred in the presidential election, where George W. This past year, in Chiafalo v. State of Washington and Colorado Department of State v. In the United States, majorities rule. But there are limits.

The Founders instituted a plan whereby in limited areas majorities would be authorized by the Constitution to rule. The electoral college is one more exception to majority rule. The Constitution would not have been ratified if the least populous states, and their voters, had not been protected against dominance by the most populous states. From a libertarian perspective, how have majorities sometimes abused their power?

The Framers understood that pure democracy, if not constrained, can lead to suppression of minority rights. Those policies, unless and until they were checked by our courts, were supported by popular majorities. Fortunately, the electoral college was one — albeit insufficient — way by which the Framers intended to curb majority rule.

How do we determine the number of electors for each state? Obviously, that departure from one-man-one-vote favors the smaller states. As noted, the tilt was necessary to get the less populous states to ratify the Constitution.

Currently, there are members of the House and senators, which means electoral votes. In addition, the 23rd Amendment gave three electoral votes to Washington, DC; so, there are a total of The presidential candidate who gets a majority of electoral votes — or more — wins, even if that candidate does not get the most popular votes.

Constitution gives states broad authority to decide how their electoral votes are to be divided among the candidates. In Maine and Nebraska, two electoral votes go to the statewide winner, and one electoral vote goes to the winner in each congressional district. How can winner-take-all be reconciled with the notion of one-man-one-vote? Political outcomes are not always determined by one man, one vote. For example, it takes three-fourths of the states to ratify constitutional amendments; two-thirds of Congress to override presidential vetoes or expel a congressman; and two-thirds of the Senate to approve treaties or impeach the president.

But that problem can be fixed without resort to pure popular voting. The Maine and Nebraska alternative — because it awards electoral votes district by district — encourages candidates to campaign even in those states they might have ignored because they were so far behind in statewide polling. Pure popular voting promotes sectionalism. Consequently, popular voting favors cities over rural areas, and large states over small.

It also increases the number and influence of marginal political parties that have little chance to win electoral votes. The choice for the vice president is left up to the Senate. Members of the Electoral College gather in their states on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December following the election to officially elect the president. The electors will meet on Dec.

If the votes go to the House, states will vote as units. What that means: All of the House members from one state come together and vote, like their own mini state. Each delegation gets one vote.