CNN’s John King briefly displayed a map featuring the dreaded prospect of a 269-269 Electoral College tie between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump — raising the natural question “What happens if there’s a 269-269 Electoral College tie between Joe Biden and Donald Trump?”
While messing around with his “magic wall,” King briefly landed on the tie scenario, telling viewers “Take a gasp,” and telling me I better rush up the answer to that question before people started googling the crap out of it.
So if you just arrived here from Google, GOTCHA!
Here’s what happens in the case of an Electoral College tie, according to 270ToWin:
If neither candidate gets a majority of the 538 electoral votes, the election for President is decided in the House of Representatives, with each state delegation having one vote. A majority of states (26) is needed to win. Senators would elect the Vice-President, with each Senator having a vote. A majority of Senators (51) is needed to win.
As of writing, Republicans have the majority of state delegations. That means Congress would select a Trump/Pence presidency.
The twist is that the contingent election would be conducted by the House and Senate that are sworn in as a result of the Election Day results, meaning that if Democrats took the Senate, their majorities would get to select the president and the vice president. If not, then you could be looking at a Biden/Pence presidency.
There’s also the prospect of a “faithless elector” breaking the tie by casting a vote in contradiction of the state vote total.
But it’s way too early to worry about this, if not to Google it.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
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