Table of Contents
What does the Constitution say about the electoral votes?
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: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States.
How are the number of electors determined for each state?
Electoral votes are allocated among the States based on the Census. Every State is allocated a number of votes equal to the number of senators and representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation—two votes for its senators in the U.S. Senate plus a number of votes equal to the number of its Congressional districts.
What happens if there is no majority in the Electoral College?
If nobody has a majority during the Electoral College meeting, the vote goes to the House of Representatives, with each state getting one vote. That process hasn’t happened since the election of 1824, and Mulji said that faithless electors are extremely rare.
What happens if there is no 538 electoral votes?
The only way it goes to Congress is if there’s a perfect tie, (be it 269-269 out of 538, or some other numbers out of a number less than 538), or if a 3rd candidate makes it so that nobody secures a majority of the appointed electors (be there 538 or some lesser number). If a state does not appoint any electors, then they don’t send any.
Does Congress have the power to object to electoral votes?
The U.S. code does allow Congress to object to electoral votes. Here’s how it works: an objection needs to be in writing and signed by at least one Senator and one Representative.
What happens if a third party gets the most electoral votes?
Thus, unless some third party got electoral votes, whoever receives the greatest number of certified electoral votes would win the presidency, and the election would not be decided by congress, right? Or am I interpreting the word “appointed” incorrectly?