## Strange Scenario

Post by drawscore » Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:00 pm

In my travels around the internet I sometimes come across things like the electoral map on AOL. The latest one shows Obama with 240 electoral votes, Romney with 191, and 107 up for grabs in seven "toss up" states. As there are a total of 538 electoral votes up for grabs, simple math says that to win the presidency, a candidate must win a sufficient number of states to accumulate 270 of them.
So, here's an oddball scenario. It's highly improbable, yet still possible. So for your entertainment and amusement, let's say that Romney captures four of them, and Obama gets three, and they fall in line just right, with the result that both Romney and Obama each end up with 269 electoral votes. That tosses the election of the president into the House of Representatives.
Now, in the House, each state delegation gets one vote, and it takes 26 votes to win the presidency. So, take Virginia, which has 11 representatives. If six are Republican and five are Democrats, it's quite likely that Virginia will cast its vote for Romney, even if Obama won the state's popular vote by ten points, 55-45.
The election of the vice president goes to the Senate, and just for the sake of argument, let's say the Republicans gain three seats, and there is a 50-50 split. Joe Biden is the constitutionally designated President of the Senate, and has the power to cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie.
All this occurs within a day or two of the new congress being sworn in on January 4. Since inauguration day for the president and vice president is January 20, he's still the President of the Senate, and could still cast the tie breaking vote, even if he votes for himself.
Again, for this to happen, everything has to fall into place just right. But if it does, there is a possibility that we could have a President Romney and a Vice President Biden.
Our Constitution is a marvelous document.
Drawscore

### Re: Strange Scenario

Post by Jason Toddman » Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:41 pm

When the Constitution was written, vice presidents were selected in a different fashion than they've been since the days George Washington was President; basically, the runner-up in an election got to be vice president. The rules were never adjusted to fit the situation when the process for selecting the VP changed in the early 19th century, as long-term planning has never been politicians' strong point.
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### Re: Strange Scenario

Post by skybird137 » Sun Jul 08, 2012 10:47 pm

And there's us, with our stupid old rule about how our Prime Minister is the leader of the political party that wins our general election.
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