The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-07-05
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An INTERESTING POSSIBILITY.

cleveland Plain Dealer,
Ghn nlGntina Of Ialrneg SnhnAlcra

tNicNcl1nu Ram Dea!@r.)
The election of James Schcolcraft
sherman ds president of the United
states is the most astonishing posi-
bility to he considered as a result of
the political muddle of 1912. on the
face of il such an outcome seems in
credible, but the peculiar provisions Of
the twelfth amendment to the federal
constitution render it worth considera-
ton.
II the third party movement gains
the strength predicted by its hackers
a failure of the electrical college to
name a president of the United States
viii be by no means impossible. The
twelfth amendment, under which the
present system OF presidential cleo
lions IS established. requires that he
electoral college cast onl" one ballot.
and that If 10 candidate receives a
majority Of all votes the election shall
he thrown into the house of represent
atiVes. The college. moreover. does
rot actually assemble and deliberate.
III" electors of each state forward
Their votes to the president of the
sanat@ at Washington, who, in the
presence of the house of representa-
tINas. counts the ballots and announc-
Is which candidate has received a ma
i"iitv. In the past this proceeding
has been merely perfunctory. This
year il nay be a matter of immense
Importance.
II the third candidate should be
found to have sufficient electoral votes
20 keep both the old party candidates
short of a majority the election would
he At once turned over TO the house of
representatives. The representatives
would vote as states. each state being
entitled to n vote, New York's thir-
ty-seVen representatives being entitled
TO no more weight than the one rep
resentative from Wyoming. The bal
lcting would continue until one of
three leading candidates-all others
being excluded from consideration by
the twelfth northumberland a
majority. or until March 4, when bal
loting would cease. and the vice presi-
dent elect would be declared president.
In case of no choice in the electoral
college. h vice presidential election is
thrown into the senate instead of into
the house of representatives, and an
immediate choice is assured by the
elimination of all except the two lead
ing candidates. The extremely remote
contingency of an exact tie in the SEN
atorial vote for vice president is not
provided for by the constitution.
Tho election of a president by the
present house Of representatives would
be extremely interesting. The states
u vote as A unit. and there are now
twenty-five democratic states, % re-
publican states, and four states
Maine. New Mexico and Rhode Island
with delegations equally divided be-
tween the two parties. Assuming that
even if a third party candidate were
to receive votes in the electoral col
lege. the partisan members Of the
house Of representatives would vote
for the old party candidates, there
would be a tie.
This could be broken only by a gen
eral detection to the third candidate.
a development far from likely. or by
the shift Of partisan votes to the can
didate of the opposing party. No
house, as the choice is absolutely lin
tied to the three men receiving the
largest vote in the electoral college.
The breaking of a house deadlock
would be difficult.
The senate, meanwhile, would have
elected a vice president. as a deadlock
would be next to impossible with the
choice limited to two; the insurgent
republicans would be compelled to
vote either for candidate Sherman or
for the democratic nominee. The re-
publican majority would undoubtedly
elect Mr.. Sherman. who would. in h
e OF a house deadlock, thus be-
come president of the United States.
Such a complication is very unlikely,
but 1t is we'll for the third party lead
ers to bear in mind that their endeav-
ors may lead to the amazing result Of
seating James S. Sherman in the pres
idential chair. 1t would be a strange
perversion of representative govern
ment. but the twelfth amendment
paves the way for precisely this out
come.