OohPooPahDoo
Gold Member
Suppose on election day Mitt wins 269 and Obama 269.
No candidate has a majority. The vote goes to the House.
But the electors don't cast the actual vote until December 15th. There are 24 states that have laws to punish faithless electors. The rest do not. An elector may cast his vote for any eligible citizens he chooses, so long as each of the two are from different states. Further, an elector in a state which punishes his for voting against his pledge will still be able to cast a faithless vote and it will be counted - he will just have to face a punishment imposed by his state.
Given that the election will definitively go to the House unless one elector that is pledged to Obama votes for Romney instead or vice versa - at this point the electors may change their votes up to influence the remainder of the process.
Since the House picks from the top 3 candidates for President, even even a single elector votes for a 3rd party candidate - such as Gary Johson - the House will get to choose from Romney, Obama, and that 3rd party candidate. Given only the choice of Obama and Romney, its clear the House would pick Romney. But - if a third party choice of Gary Johnson is available and constituent support demands it, some of those teabag morons in the House may go for Gary Johnson instead.
So - if the electoral college vote is 269 ROmney 268 Obama 1 Gary Johnson, with the Johnson vote being cast by a faithless Obama elector with the express purpose of splitting the House vote - and the House vote is successfully split - it is sufficient to deny Romney 25 state delegations, whether they vote for Obama or Johnson or split and cast no vote does not matter - then the House will be unable to choose a President!
Then whomever the Senate picks as VP would Act as President!
Ryan if the Senate is Republican - but BIDEN if it is Democrat?
Not so fast!
The faithless electors could further influence the election.
Say the electoral vote is 269 Romney 134 Obama 135 Johnson, with 135 faithless Democrat electors switching their votes from Obama to Johson for President. Say this deadlocks the house because the teabaggers refuse to budge from Johnson.
Now say those 135 electors also switch their VP vote to OBAMA. Then the vote for VP is 269 Ryan 135 Obama 134 Biden - the Senate chooses from the top TWO candidates so if they are Democratic, Obama would be the choice! Then Obama would hold the office of Vice President, but he would Act as President since the Office of PResident would be vacant until the House came out of deadlock.
No candidate has a majority. The vote goes to the House.
But the electors don't cast the actual vote until December 15th. There are 24 states that have laws to punish faithless electors. The rest do not. An elector may cast his vote for any eligible citizens he chooses, so long as each of the two are from different states. Further, an elector in a state which punishes his for voting against his pledge will still be able to cast a faithless vote and it will be counted - he will just have to face a punishment imposed by his state.
Given that the election will definitively go to the House unless one elector that is pledged to Obama votes for Romney instead or vice versa - at this point the electors may change their votes up to influence the remainder of the process.
Since the House picks from the top 3 candidates for President, even even a single elector votes for a 3rd party candidate - such as Gary Johson - the House will get to choose from Romney, Obama, and that 3rd party candidate. Given only the choice of Obama and Romney, its clear the House would pick Romney. But - if a third party choice of Gary Johnson is available and constituent support demands it, some of those teabag morons in the House may go for Gary Johnson instead.
So - if the electoral college vote is 269 ROmney 268 Obama 1 Gary Johnson, with the Johnson vote being cast by a faithless Obama elector with the express purpose of splitting the House vote - and the House vote is successfully split - it is sufficient to deny Romney 25 state delegations, whether they vote for Obama or Johnson or split and cast no vote does not matter - then the House will be unable to choose a President!
Then whomever the Senate picks as VP would Act as President!
Ryan if the Senate is Republican - but BIDEN if it is Democrat?
Not so fast!
The faithless electors could further influence the election.
Say the electoral vote is 269 Romney 134 Obama 135 Johnson, with 135 faithless Democrat electors switching their votes from Obama to Johson for President. Say this deadlocks the house because the teabaggers refuse to budge from Johnson.
Now say those 135 electors also switch their VP vote to OBAMA. Then the vote for VP is 269 Ryan 135 Obama 134 Biden - the Senate chooses from the top TWO candidates so if they are Democratic, Obama would be the choice! Then Obama would hold the office of Vice President, but he would Act as President since the Office of PResident would be vacant until the House came out of deadlock.