How the House would choose the president in the event of an Electoral College tie – NBC New York

choosing it was already full of astounding and historically unusual events. Another potential scenario looms this fall: “contingent elections” of president and vice president that would happen if no one could secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidential election.

This hasn’t happened in the modern era, but there are several conceivable (if unlikely) paths on the Electoral College map that could result in former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris ending the race tied at 269 electoral votes.

Some of those scenarios include Republicans winning all of Nebraska’s votes, an uphill battle because the state awards one vote to the winner of each of its congressional districts, and Harris is favored to win the Omaha-area 2nd District. (That’s why the Republicans, briefly and unsuccessfully, sought to change the Nebraska rules And it is much less likely that a third-party candidate will win electoral votes and prevent someone else from gaining a majority, or that faithless voters will refuse to support a candidate, to the same end. result.

In the event of a tie, Congress would decide the next president.

Stephanie Perry, manager of exit polling at NBC News, explains the entire process involved in this poll conducted after voters have cast their ballots.

While the process would be hotly contested and historic, Congress has an established process for deciding a president in this scenario, which would undoubtedly follow a series of court challenges in key states designed to challenge the election results there .

Here’s how it would work.

“Each state, regardless of population, casts a single vote for president in contingent elections,” according to Congressional Research Service. This means that each state’s caucus would choose from among the three candidates with the most votes in the Electoral College, and the candidate with the support of the majority of states would win.

The newly elected Congress that will take office in January would vote in this scenario. So the results of the congressional elections would loom large.

Republicans hold a majority control of 26 state delegates, while Democrats hold a majority control of 22 delegates, and two states (Minnesota and North Carolina) are tied. Members of Congress would not be required to vote for their party’s nominee, but would certainly face immense pressure to do so.

Although Washington, DC has three electoral votes in presidential elections, it would not have one vote in the House in contingent elections because it is not a state.

In contingent elections, the vice president is elected by the full vote of the Senate, with each senator casting his or her own vote for one of the two vice presidential candidates with the most electoral votes.

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