The Irish standard., 1912-08-03
Prospects of Three Cor1ered Fight
Rouses Interest in Constitu-
tional Provision.
If no Candidate Got a Majority
Election Would 60 to Lower
House of Congress.
This has Already Happened Three
Times---Not Likely to Occur
This Year.

Inc hope-or was ii a threat?-ex-
pressed short time ago by Theodore
Roosevelt that by his candidacy he
would throw the election of the next
President into the House of Repre-
sentat1Ves." has caused much specu-
Iation among those not acquainted
with the methods employed to elect
the President of the United States.
The colonel had reference to the pro-
visions of the constitution regarding
the election of President Those pro-
visions are found In article 2 of the
constitution and in article 10 Of
amendments to the constitution. the
vital portions of which follows:
Each state shall appoint. in such
manner as the legislature thereof may
direct, a number of electors equal to
the whole number of senators and
representatives to which the state
may be entitled in the Congress. The
electors shall meet In their respective
states. and vote by ballot for Presi-
dent and Vice President, one of whom,
at least, shall not be an inhabitaut
of the same state with themselves;
they shall name in their ballots the
person voted for as President. AMI 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 nr
the number of votes for each, which
lists they shall sign and certify, and
transmit scaled to the seat of gov
ernment OF the United States, directed
to the president OF the Senate; the
president Of the Senate shall, in the
presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives., open all the certii-
Gates, and the votes shall then he
counted; the person having the great
est number OF votes for President
shall be the President, If such num-
Der be n majority Of the whole num-
Der of electors appointed; and If no
person have such majority, then from
the persons having the highest num-
bers, not exceeding three on the list
of those voted for as President the
House of Representatives shall choose
Immediately. by ballot. the President"
The Vice President Is chosen in
similar fashion but the Senate instead
we of d.,
any candidate fails to receive a ma
jority of all votes cast in the cleo
toral college. In choosing the Presi-
. dent, however, each member Of the
House does not vote his personal pref
erences. Instead, the vote is taken
by states. the representation from
each state having one vote. Two
thirds of the states must be present
to insure a quorum, and a majority
of all the states is necessary for a
choice of the President. In case the
House fails to elect President be-
/ fore the fourth day of March, It Is
provided that the Vice President shall
act as President "as In the case OF
the death or other constitutional dis
ability Of the President"
It is the constitutional requirement
of majority of all votes cast in
the electoral college for President
upon which Colonel Roosevelt baeeS
his hopes of Throwing the election
into the House." One more than half
of the votes is a majority. II the
| votse are distributed among three or
more candidates it is apparent that
one candidate may have plurality
over another. yet not have a majority
! Of all votes cast Thus it was in 1900.
At that time the twelfth amendment
to the constitution had not oeen
adopted, and there were no candidates
for Vice President, the provision Of
Article being that "in every case.
after the choice Of the President, the
person having the greatest number of
votes of the electors shall be Vice
President" President John Adams
and Charles c. Pinckney were the
candidates of the Federalist party,
and Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr
were the candidates Of the Republi-
cans or Democrats. In the electoral