12th/20th Amendment Procedures

[Bogart]

If the election goes to the House, the states vote as a delegation. If they are unable to determine a winner by Jan. 20, the Vice President becomes Acting President (Dick Cheney) until they are able to come to a decision.

According to www.usconstitution.net, senators vote individually but only amongst the top two vote-getters for Vice President provided there is 2/3 quorum. If there is a tie, the current VP votes and could vote for himself.

The most interesting scenario is if the EC is tied and the election goes to the House which cannot agree by Inauguration Day. Cheney then becomes Acting President, remains VP and is, in a sense, VP-elect for the new administration. If this deadlock went on for some time, would Cheney be required to appoint an Acting Vice President who would serve until the new President is elected by the House and Cheney resumes his role as Vice President..

[Bogart]

If the election goes to the House, the states vote as a delegation.

Yes, that's why I mentioned that in the current House, the Republicans control 26 delegations.  The current House would elect Bush.  That could change.

And what happens if the House remains deadlocked, and can't choose a President (the Democrats hold up the appointment of judges indefinitely - what do you think they'd do if the presidency were on the line)?

If they are unable to determine a winner by Jan. 20, the Vice President becomes Acting President (Dick Cheney) until they are able to come to a decision.

According to www.usconstitution.net, senators vote individually but only amongst the top two vote-getters for Vice President provided there is 2/3 quorum. If there is a tie, the current VP votes and could vote for himself. The most interesting scenario is that the House cannot decide by Inauguration Day and Cheney becomes Acting President and must also vote for himself to become Vice President in a new administration.  Would he as Acting President be required to appoint an Acting VP who would serve until the House elects a new President.

This seems like a very likely scenario to me.

Another interesting one, and quite feasible, is a Bush-Edwards administration.  I'd kinda like that, actually.

There are quite a number of very interesting possibilities.  Think of 2000. In the same situation described above, Gore would have become Acting President only to have it taken away.

[Bogart]

If the election goes to the House, the states vote as a delegation. If they are unable to determine a winner by Jan. 20, the Vice President becomes Acting President (Dick Cheney) until they are able to come to a decision.

According to www.usconstitution.net, senators vote individually but only amongst the top two vote-getters for Vice President provided there is 2/3 quorum. If there is a tie, the current VP votes and could vote for himself.

There has been considerable debate in various threads on this forum as to whether or not the VP can break that tie.  The 12th amendment explicitly sets a different standard for the quorom required for election of a Vice President, so some have argured that the standard mentioned for that vote in the 12th Amendent calling for "a majority of the whole number" should be taken literally and that the Vp cannot break a tie and that even a 50-49 vote would be insuficient since 50 is a not a majority of the whole number, i.e., 100 senators.

You're right that the wording of the 12th Amendment does seem to suggest that it would require 51 votes to elect a VP. This wouldn't preclude that the VP could break the tie, but that only in a 50-50 situation, where the VP's vote would make 51, would the vote result in a VP being elected.

[Bogart]

You're right that the wording of the 12th Amendment does seem to suggest that it would require 51 votes to elect a VP. This wouldn't preclude that the VP could break the tie, but that only in a 50-50 situation, where the VP's vote would make 51, would the vote result in a VP being elected.

No, it wouldn't make it 51 because the VP is not a Senator.  Even if he were to vote for himself when the Senate was tied 50-50, it still would be only 50 Senators voting for him which is not a majority of the whole number.

That's what I thought you meant. I was only quoting the website referenced.  Under this interpretation, it would be impossible to break a tie, however.