From: geoff@pmafire.inel.gov (Geoff Allen)
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 17:28:05 GMT
Organization: Roller Coaster fanatic with no hope for a cure
Subject: Re: Makeup of the House (was Re: A Technical Request)
Summary: 
Followup-To: 
Distribution: usa
Organization: Roller Coaster fanatic with no hope for a cure
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I'm not sure exactly what these newsgroups have to do with this, but....

gmartin@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (George Martin) writes:
>But it is my understanding that *if*
>the presidential election goes to the House, the vote will be by states
>with each state having *one* vote.  (Does the Speaker of the House have
>a tie breaking vote?)

Well, I know this is Usenet, and we're not supposed to resort to facts
or anything, but here's the relevant text from my online copy of the
Constitution.

The short answers to your questions seem to be:

	The representatives *do* vote by state, each state having one
	vote, with at least 2/3 of the states voting (as if anyone would
	miss such an event!), and all states' votes being equal (i.e. a
	simple majority of states will elect a president).

	There's no mention of what to do if there's a tie.  Of course,
since a ``majority of all states'' is needed, there can be no tie.  In
our case, a majority of all states would be 26, and two people couldn't
both get 26 states' votes. ;^)

	Another interesting questions is: What happens if no one gets a
	majority of states in the House vote? That's not addressed in
	the Constitution. 

	Another interesting scenario:  Idaho (my home state) tends
	toward the Republican side of things, and is likely to vote for
	Bush.  Both of our Senators are Republican.  But both of our
	Representatives are Democrats.  Would there be a lynching if the
	state's electors voted for Bush but the state's Representatives
	voted for Clinton?  Hmmm... 

Of course, the likelihood of Perot winning enough states to cause neiter
Bush nor Clinton to get 270 electoral votes is pretty slim.  I'd imagine
the likelihood of Perot winning *any* states is pretty slim. ;^)

Here's the real thing, uninterpreted by the media or political think
tanks or the Supreme Court or Rush Limbaugh or anyone else:


                                  AMENDMENT XII
                            (ratified June 15, 1804)

    The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by
  ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall
  not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name
  in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct
  ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make
  distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons
  voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which
  lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of
  the government of the United States, directed to the President of the
  Senate;--the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
  Senate and the House of Representatives, open all the certificates and
  the votes shall then be counted;--The person having the greatest number
  of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a
  majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person
  have such a majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers
  not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the
  House of Representative shall choose immediately, by ballot, the
  President.  But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by
  states, the representations from each state having one vote; a quorum
  for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of
  the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a
  choice.  [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a
  President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before
  the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall
  act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional
  disability of the President.--](13) The person having the greatest
  number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice President, if such
  number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if
  no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the
  list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the
  purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, a
  majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.  But no
  person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be
  eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 

And note 13 reads:

  13. Superseded by Section 3 of Amendment XX (1933).

which reads:

    Section 3.    If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of
                  the President, the President elect shall have died,
  the Vice President elect shall become President.  If a President shall
  not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his
  term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the
  Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have
  qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein
  neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have
  qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in
  which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act
  accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified. 


-- 
Geoff Allen          \  Usenet is distributed network anarchy at its best---
uunet!pmafire!geoff   \   or worst, depending on what is posted on any
geoff@pmafire.inel.gov \   particular day.   --David Fiedler in _Byte_
From: Ken.Cusick@f29.n112.z1.fidonet.org (Ken Cusick)
Sender: FredGate@iphase.UUCP