Title: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: OSR stands with Israel on September 13, 2017, 01:24:07 PM
Say the map of the election was like this :
(
)
Hillary 268
Trump 260
and the state of Wisconsin has been officially determined(which means the recounts have been already conducted) to have been a tie between Hillary and Trump . How then does it get determined who receives Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes, or do those 10 electoral votes get thrown out and the election gets decided by congress.
(
Hillary 268
Trump 260
and the state of Wisconsin has been officially determined(which means the recounts have been already conducted) to have been a tie between Hillary and Trump . How then does it get determined who receives Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes, or do those 10 electoral votes get thrown out and the election gets decided by congress.
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: Vosem on September 13, 2017, 01:43:48 PM
Well, the specifically Wisconsin law is that elections determined to be tied are determined by a coin flip; this has happened at the small-town level.
A statewide election would never be determined to be tied, though. After protracted court wrangling about what to do with individual votes, someone's lawyers would triumph and that candidate would be declared the winner. If this would take longer than it takes for the Electoral College to meet, the state legislature has the authority to appoint electors itself (which in Wisconsin at present would mean a Republican victory, but could be a Democratic one elsewhere) or, if it is deadlocked and cannot send a delegation to the Electoral College, with no majority the election would be thrown to the House.
A statewide election would never be determined to be tied, though. After protracted court wrangling about what to do with individual votes, someone's lawyers would triumph and that candidate would be declared the winner. If this would take longer than it takes for the Electoral College to meet, the state legislature has the authority to appoint electors itself (which in Wisconsin at present would mean a Republican victory, but could be a Democratic one elsewhere) or, if it is deadlocked and cannot send a delegation to the Electoral College, with no majority the election would be thrown to the House.
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: SteveRogers on September 13, 2017, 03:10:07 PM
Also, y'all can make this thread a thousand times, and I'll keep making the same dumb, increasingly out-of-date reference:
Also, my understanding of the law in New Mexico is that in the event of a tie the state's electoral votes are determined by Kevin Costner, and hilarious hijinks ensue as both Presidential candidates attempt to personally woo him for his vote.
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: I’m not Stu on September 13, 2017, 04:07:27 PM
Maybe some states have a runoff between the top two candidates?
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: 100% pro-life no matter what on September 14, 2017, 05:35:11 PM
Well, the specifically Wisconsin law is that elections determined to be tied are determined by a coin flip; this has happened at the small-town level.
I would be confident in saying that that would have been the most important coin flip in the history of the world!
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: Lord Admirale on September 14, 2017, 09:46:36 PM
If, by some strange occurrence, I assume that state's electoral votes would be meaningless and the election would go to the House. That seems to be the most logical path.
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: South Dakota Democrat on July 19, 2018, 08:21:11 PM
Also, y'all can make this thread a thousand times, and I'll keep making the same dumb, increasingly out-of-date reference:
Also, my understanding of the law in New Mexico is that in the event of a tie the state's electoral votes are determined by Kevin Costner, and hilarious hijinks ensue as both Presidential candidates attempt to personally woo him for his vote.
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: Progressive Pessimist on July 20, 2018, 07:06:49 PM
Get Kevin Costner from Swing Vote!...Does anyone else remember that movie?
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: Mikestone8 on March 04, 2019, 04:15:03 AM
If no electors were chosen from WI, then Hilary would win, as she would have a majority of the total number of electors
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: fluffypanther19 on March 08, 2019, 02:56:54 PM
Get Kevin Costner from Swing Vote!...Does anyone else remember that movie?
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: Skill and Chance on August 03, 2019, 01:48:17 PM
In most states there is a game of chance. It's also possible that the electors for that state simply aren't counted and it goes to the House. Or if one party controls all of the state government, the state legislature could try to unilaterally assign the electors to their candidate and it goes to SCOTUS (3 justices were implicitly OK with that during Bush v. Gore).
Title: Re: What happens if the deciding state in an election is tied
Post by: jimrtex on August 06, 2019, 06:20:13 AM
In most states there is a game of chance. It's also possible that the electors for that state simply aren't counted and it goes to the House. Or if one party controls all of the state government, the state legislature could try to unilaterally assign the electors to their candidate and it goes to SCOTUS (3 justices were implicitly OK with that during Bush v. Gore).
In the past, state laws provided that the legislature would make the determination. This happened in 1852 in Massachusetts and 1860 in Georgia.
A state could provide for an alternative such as a runoff.
In Missouri, electors are chosen by congressional district based on the statewide popular vote. Statute provides that in case of a tie, the legislature chooses the elector for each district. Since there woul