"President Mitt Romney and Vice-President Joe Biden shivered in below freezing temperatures as they took the oath of office the White House, a culmination of the election of the most unusual White House partnership since when Federalist John Adams was elected President and his arch rival, Democratic -Republican Thomas Jefferson was elected Vice-President in 1796. Following the electoral tie of 1800, which ended being decided by the House of Representatives in favor President Thomas Jefferson over his running mate Aaron Burr, the 12th Amendment was adopted to correct the constitutional flaw in the Electoral College that resulted in the 1800 deadlock and the provision that the second place finisher in Electoral College became Vice President. Now the Election of 2012 has exposed yet another constitutional flaw that both President Romney and Vice-President Biden have asked congress to address through a proposed constitutional amendment which would ensure that candidates for President and Vice-President will always be elected from the same ticket."
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Mitt Romney's Vice President? |
Since many of the electors can vote for whichever candidate they want in the White House, I always thought if there was a close vote in the Electoral College that many electors would be subject to "persuasion" in the form of promises of high level positions in the administration or maybe a nice ambassadorship...if they switched their votes. The experience of 2000 (when Bush led 271-266 (one elector abstained) in the Electoral College) showed that didn't happen. So let's say between the time of the election and the meeting of the electors in their individual states to cast votes, nobody has been persuaded to change their minds. The 269-269 split means there is no majority in the Electoral College, and for the 3rd time in history, the presidential election is to be decided by the U.S. House according to the 12th Amendment. Meanwhile, assuming the same 269-269 (there is no reason to think the votes wouldn't mirror each other), the Vice Presidential is to be decided by the U.S. Senate.
In the U.S. House, the vote is conducted by each state's delegation casting one vote. Republicans have a large 32-15 control in state delegations (3 are split) and Romney would be a slam dunk victor in that venue. The Vice Presidential race is a different story. Democrats have a 51-47 majority in the Senate (there are two independents though they typically vote with the Democrats in organizational matters). A party line vote for Veep, which party line vote would most assuredly happened, would result in Vice President Biden being re-elected.
President Romney and Vice-President Biden. It's not a probability, but it's definitely a possibility.
2012 Presidential Election: Tie in Electoral College
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