what if this is elections' scenario

[angus]

There would be madness, chaos, calls for punitive damages, and laywers' phones ringing off the hooks.  Every tv in tvland would be tuned to CNN for the latest update (which would contain exactly the same information as the last latest update five minutes ago).  There would be legisation introduced to amend the constitution's electoral process.  Babies screaming, old ladies crying, and George and John making speeches on TV.  Clinton would be sought out for an "expert opinion" on the matter.

For about five minutes.  Then Clinton would go back to his cheeseburgers and fries and interns, and the rest of us would return to more important matters like the WWF smackdown, monster truck shows, sushi, nihilist poetry readings, pillowfights, and laundry.

[angus]

what exactly are the rules...is it the house of the full congress?  Isnt it by delegation and not a straight vote?

In the case of a tie, each of the fifty states gets one vote.  Majority wins.  That's pretty much it.

But in the case of an irregularity suchas that described above by dunn.  You pretty much live with it.  End of debate.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

[angus]

right.  anything less than a majority (270 since 1960) doesn't win.  and I imagine in the case of the 269 all which you describe, during the several weeks between election night and the *real* election night, many phones will be ringing, many checkbooks will be opened, and many favors recalled.  Both sides will be doing their homework.  

Should that fail, of course, it goes into the house.  Bush wins.

[angus]

that requires some homework.  I'm about to take a bicycle ride.  It's 69 and sunny in my little piece of suburbia.  I imagine you'd have to be *really* wealthy and powerful, even by American standards, to buy off even a small state's legislative assembly.  So just look at majorities in each legislature.  I believe there are more reps than dems.

Thus, either way, Bush wins.  

[angus]

yeah, I meant congressional delegation.  sorry.  Bush wins.

you people made lots of comments.  Actually Hamilton gave Aaron Burr a hard time after that election.  Hamilton was killed.  Like anna lind.  Burr was discredited.    This is how we settle those things.

That's:  the wealthy elitist capitalist banker was killed by the populist New Jersey kid.  Okay, boys and girls?  There's always a solution.

Whoa.  it occurs to me that the preceding could be seriously misinterpreted.  I am not suggesting anything of the sort.  glad I caught that.  I apologize if I offended anyone.

[angus]

ashcroft is sick.  read all about it

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-people-ashcroft.html

[angus]

hmmm, Texas has 17 dems and 15 gop representatives by my calculations . . .

16 each, as of about 2 months ago.