1968: George Romney the Republican nominee

[darklordoftech]

What would the map look like?

[GeorgiaModerate]

Are we assuming the brainwashing remark never happens, or that it happens after he gets the nomination?

[KingSweden]

Are we assuming the brainwashing remark never happens, or that it happens after he gets the nomination?

I would presume he didn’t say it, and thus got the nomination

[darklordoftech]

Are we assuming the brainwashing remark never happens, or that it happens after he gets the nomination?

Never happens.

[GeorgiaModerate]

This interests me greatly, as the 1968 election was the first one I followed avidly -- and that interest was triggered by an ongoing debate between my parents on whether to support Romney or Nixon.  I might try to have some fun with this.

[dw93]

He wins the election, Wallace does better in the south, but Romney rips into HHH's support in the north.

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 5, 1968, 1:45 A.M.  Governor George Romney switched off the lamp, slid into bed, and closed his eyes.  It had been a long day, he thought, in a long campaign, but at least it was the last one.  Tomorrow -- or rather, later that day -- he and millions of other Americans would cast their votes; and by late that night, he would in all probability be elected President of the United States.  Romney felt confident, although he knew that in politics it was never over until all the votes were counted.  The polls showed him with a small lead, although Humphrey had closed the gap as summer turned to fall, especially after Johnson had stopped the bombing in Vietnam.  But he had the satisfaction of knowing he'd run a good campaign and done everything he could to win.  

His running mate, John Tower, had also proved to be an asset; although Romney was initially reluctant to pick the Texas senator, it had been a necessary compromise.  Romney had finished a respectable second to Nixon in the primaries.  Along with Reagan, Rockefeller, and a host of favorite sons, they'd kept Nixon from a majority on the first ballot.  The three R's had come together in a stop-Nixon movement [1], agreeing to support Romney.  A deal to make Tower his running mate secured the Texas delegation, putting Romney over the top on the third ballot.  [2]  Tower also wasn't a bad choice to balance the ticket, Romney had to admit, for both geographic and ideological reasons.

Romney's main remaining worry was George Wallace, who was too clever by half.  Wallace had toned down the racist talk during the last few months, possibly influenced by his running mate, Happy Chandler. [3]  Wallace already had the segregationists in his pocket, so he'd been playing up a populist theme of appealing to the working class, and slamming the political establishment with his signature line that there wasn't a "dime's worth of difference" between the two major parties.  

But still, Romney thought as he drifted into sleep, Wallace probably would win a few Southern states, but the Republicans had plenty of slack -- especially if they could pick up Tower's Texas, which it looked like they just might do.

TO BE CONTINUED

[1] Reagan and Rockefeller actually did this in OTL, but didn't have enough delegates to stop Nixon.  With Romney still in the race with a significant number of delegates, they were successful.

[2] In OTL, Tower was nominated as a favorite son by the Texas delegation, and was also considered as Nixon's running mate.

[3] A. B. "Happy" Chandler of Kentucky was an interesting figure.  He served as Senator, twice as Governor (20 years apart!), and was Commissioner of Major League Baseball for several years.  He was Wallace's first choice for running mate, and the two held several meetings but were unable to come to an accord on racial issues.  Chandler was ahead of his time for a Southern Democrat; as baseball commissioner, he was a key figure in allowing the Dodgers to sign Jackie Robinson and integrate the sport.  As Governor, he promised to enforce Brown, and used National Guard troops to do so.  I'm assuming that Wallace was pragmatic enough to make some concessions to Chandler (a much better choice than General LeMay) -- or at least to make Chandler believe that he had.

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 5, 1968, 8:30 P.M.  Polls were now closed in half the country, with significant results from some of the earlier closing states. [4]  Indiana, Ohio, and Vermont had been called for Romney, with West Virginia going to Humphrey.  Alabama, based on very early returns, was piling up a huge majority for its native son, Wallace.  The remaining states were either close or had only scattered returns to report. 

Romney/Tower: 42
Humphrey/Muskie: 7
Wallace/Chandler: 10

TO BE CONTINUED

[4] I couldn't find a list of poll closing times in 1968, so I'm using the times from 2016.

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 5, 1968, 11:00 P.M.  With polls closing on the West Coast, the map has gradually filled in.  Wallace is sweeping the South, with AR, GA, LA, MS, and SC called for him. [5]  He also leads in TN, but it's close enough not to call yet.  Humphrey has picked up the biggest prize, New York's 43 electoral votes, and a handful of other Democratic strongholds.  Romney has claimed his home state of Michigan [6] and Virginia, among others, and leads in the important states of Florida and Illinois.  Among the remaining states, there are a number of close races.  Some of them, particularly in the Upper South stretch from Missouri to North Carolina, are really close.

Romney/Tower 160
Humphrey/Muskie 103
Wallace/Chandler 53

TO BE CONTINUED

[5] Romney, a strong supporter of civil rights, was unable to gain the level of Southern support that Nixon had.  As a result, he ran behind Nixon through most of the region.  The presence of John Tower (a vocal opponent of both the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act) helped to mitigate this -- but not by much, except in Texas.  South Carolina to Wallace is a flip from OTL; Nixon won it by 5.8%.

[6] This is a flip from OTL, where Humphrey won by 6.7%.  Romney's popularity in his home state overcame the strength of organized labor.

[Kingpoleon]

288: George Romney/Mark Hatfield - 44.0%
203: Hubert Humphrey/George Smathers - 40.1%
47: George Wallace/Strom Thurmond - 14.6%
Others - 1.3%

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 6, 1968, 2:30 A.M.  Florida and Illinois have now been called for Romney, among others.  Perhaps the most surprising is Kentucky, the home of Happy Chandler, Wallace's running mate; Romney won with 35% over Humphrey's 33% and Wallace's 32%.  However, Humphrey has picked up Pennsylvania, and Wallace has taken Tennessee with 37% to Romney's 34% [7].  The remaining uncalled states are:

Alaska: Romney has an early lead, but there are too few votes counted to project.

California: Humphrey has a slight lead with 70% counted.

Washington: see California, but with 82% in.

Texas: 94% of precincts are in, and Romney leads by 2%.  This one will probably be called soon.  It looks like picking Tower as his running mate has paid off for Romney.

Missouri: With 98% counted, Romney leads by 1500 votes.  However, most of the remaining precincts are in or around St. Louis, and they're likely to go Democratic.  This one isn't over.

North Carolina: Nominally 100% have reported, but the count is not final.  It currently shows a razor-thin margin for Romney (166 votes out of 1.5 million), but there have been several reports of transcription errors changing the totals from various counties.  The state has suspended all counting until the morning; in any case, a recount looks certain.

Romney/Tower 236
Humphrey/Muskie 136
Wallace/Chandler 64

TO BE CONTINUED

[7] Tennessee is a flip from OTL, where Nixon won by almost the same margin.

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 6, 1968, 3:30 A.M.  Texas is called for Romney! [ 8 ]  He now needs only one of the remaining states (other than Alaska) for the win.  But all four of those states are within 1%.

Romney/Tower 261
Humphrey/Muskie 136
Wallace/Chandler 64

TO BE CONTINUED

[ 8 ] Because of Tower, this is a flip from OTL, where Humphrey won by 1.3%.

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 6, 1968, 5:45 A.M.  With 99% counted in California, Humphrey has an apparently insurmountable 40,000 vote lead, and the networks call it.  [9] The Democrat hasn't won that many states, but they include the three biggest: New York, California, and Pennsylvania.  In the remaining states, Romney leads in slow-counting Alaska, while the other three are done counting or very close to it.  Humphrey has a slim lead in Washington (7,000 votes) and a slimmer one in Missouri (900); St. Louis came through for him at the end.  And North Carolina remains with a razor-thin lead for Romney.

Romney/Tower 261
Humphrey/Muskie 176
Wallace/Chandler 64

TO BE CONTINUED

[9] This is a flip from OTL.  Nixon won California by 3%, but without the home-state effect Romney fell short.

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 6, 1968, 8:30 A.M.  Washington and Alaska have been called for Humphrey and Romney respectively.  Missouri hasn't been called yet, but apparently final results give Humphrey a 978-vote lead.  A recount looms, but that margin will be hard to overcome.  And so as the day begins, all eyes turn to North Carolina.

Romney/Tower 264
Humphrey/Muskie 197 (including MO)
Wallace/Chandler 64

10:00 A.M. After a conference call with each county's supervisor of elections, the North Carolina Secretary of State announces that Romney's lead over Wallace is actually 76 votes, not 166.  A transposition error in one county had shorted Wallace by 90 votes (2673 vs 2763).  The Secretary of State has instructed each county to recanvass all precincts and check their totals, with results to be reported later this afternoon.

TO BE CONTINUED

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 6, 1968, 4:30 P.M.  The North Carolina State Board of Elections announces the results of the recanvass.  There were several minor errors and one major one: a precinct initially reported 100 too many votes for Romney due to a clerk's sloppy writing (215 were cast, but the 2 looked like a 3).  After all precincts were totaled, the new result is:

Wallace 560,219
Romney 560,196
Humphrey 464,115

Wallace leads by 23 votes.  The Board of Elections announces that it will initiate a statewide recount on its own discretion beginning the next morning.  The recount is expected to last two days.

November 7, 1968, 6:00 P.M.  The first day of the North Carolina recount ends.  Wallace has lost a net 9 votes to Romney and now leads by 14.

November 8, 1968, 3:00 P.M.  The Missouri Board of Elections certifies Hubert Humphrey as the winner by 978 votes.  The Romney campaign immediately files a recount request, which is granted.  As it is now Friday afternoon, the recount will begin Monday morning.

8:00 P.M.  Due to a large number of challenged ballots, the North Carolina recount is still ongoing.  Wallace gained a net 27 votes today and now leads by 41.  The count will continue on Saturday and is expected to be completed then.

November 9, 1968, 2:15 P.M.  The North Carolina Board of Elections announces the final recount total:

Wallace 560,229
Romney 560,192
Humphrey 464,113

Wallace has won North Carolina by 37 votes.  Unless the Missouri recount changes the result, no candidate will have an Electoral College majority, and the election will go to the House.

Romney/Tower 264
Humphrey/Muskie 197
Wallace/Chandler 77

TO BE CONTINUED

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 12, 1968, 4:00 P.M.  The Missouri recount has finished, with the final result:

Humphrey 768,944
Romney 767,932
Wallace 275,912

Humphrey wins the state by 1,012 votes.  The national popular vote totals:

Romney 31,268,362 (42.98%)
Humphrey 30,844,141 (42.40%)
Wallace 10,636,163 (14.62%)

Romney's margin is 424,221 (0.58%).  Here's the popular vote map:

The 10 closest states:

NC 0.002% Wallace over Romney
MO 0.06% Humphrey over Romney
WA 0.58% H/R
CA 0.62% H/R
PA 1.41% H/R
TX 1.98% R/H
KY 2.00% R/H (2.81% R/W)
NJ 2.15% R/H
AK 2.64% R/H
IL 2.93% R/H

TO BE CONTINUED

[Note: I have the rest of the timeline plotted out, but will be traveling this week and my presence here will be somewhat spotty.  But never fear, the whole thing will be published eventually.]

[UWS]

November 6, 1968, 4:30 P.M.  The North Carolina State Board of Elections announces the results of the recanvass.  There were several minor errors and one major one: a precinct initially reported 100 too many votes for Romney due to a clerk's sloppy writing (215 were cast, but the 2 looked like a 3).  After all precincts were totaled, the new result is:

Wallace 560,219
Romney 560,196
Humphrey 464,115

Wallace leads by 23 votes.  The Board of Elections announces that it will initiate a statewide recount on its own discretion beginning the next morning.  The recount is expected to last two days.

November 7, 1968, 6:00 P.M.  The first day of the North Carolina recount ends.  Wallace has lost a net 9 votes to Romney and now leads by 14.

November 8, 1968, 3:00 P.M.  The Missouri Board of Elections certifies Hubert Humphrey as the winner by 978 votes.  The Romney campaign immediately files a recount request, which is granted.  As it is now Friday afternoon, the recount will begin Monday morning.

8:00 P.M.  Due to a large number of challenged ballots, the North Carolina recount is still ongoing.  Wallace gained a net 27 votes today and now leads by 41.  The count will continue on Saturday and is expected to be completed then.

November 9, 1968, 2:15 P.M.  The North Carolina Board of Elections announces the final recount total:

Wallace 560,229
Romney 560,192
Humphrey 464,113

Wallace has won North Carolina by 37 votes.  Unless the Missouri recount changes the result, no candidate will have an Electoral College majority, and the election will go to the House.

Romney/Tower 264
Humphrey/Muskie 197
Wallace/Chandler 77

TO BE CONTINUED

So if the election goes to the House of Representatives as you say, then Humphrey wins since the House of Representatives was controlled by the Democrats at that time.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1966

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1968

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 6, 1968, 4:30 P.M.  The North Carolina State Board of Elections announces the results of the recanvass.  There were several minor errors and one major one: a precinct initially reported 100 too many votes for Romney due to a clerk's sloppy writing (215 were cast, but the 2 looked like a 3).  After all precincts were totaled, the new result is:

Wallace 560,219
Romney 560,196
Humphrey 464,115

Wallace leads by 23 votes.  The Board of Elections announces that it will initiate a statewide recount on its own discretion beginning the next morning.  The recount is expected to last two days.

November 7, 1968, 6:00 P.M.  The first day of the North Carolina recount ends.  Wallace has lost a net 9 votes to Romney and now leads by 14.

November 8, 1968, 3:00 P.M.  The Missouri Board of Elections certifies Hubert Humphrey as the winner by 978 votes.  The Romney campaign immediately files a recount request, which is granted.  As it is now Friday afternoon, the recount will begin Monday morning.

8:00 P.M.  Due to a large number of challenged ballots, the North Carolina recount is still ongoing.  Wallace gained a net 27 votes today and now leads by 41.  The count will continue on Saturday and is expected to be completed then.

November 9, 1968, 2:15 P.M.  The North Carolina Board of Elections announces the final recount total:

Wallace 560,229
Romney 560,192
Humphrey 464,113

Wallace has won North Carolina by 37 votes.  Unless the Missouri recount changes the result, no candidate will have an Electoral College majority, and the election will go to the House.

Romney/Tower 264
Humphrey/Muskie 197
Wallace/Chandler 77

TO BE CONTINUED

So if the election goes to the House of Representatives as you say, then Humphrey wins since the House of Representatives was controlled by the Democrats at that time.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1966

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1968

Not to get ahead of myself, but it's not quite that cut and dried...the state delegations in the new House have 19 controlled by Republicans, 5 split evenly, and 26 controlled by Democrats.  But 8 of the 26 are the Southern states won by Wallace -- some of them by overwhelming margins.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I'm traveling this week and don't have a lot of time, but here's a small teaser:

November 15, 1968, 10:00 A.M.  George Romney was in his office in the Governor's mansion, trying to focus on some paperwork, although his mind was mostly elsewhere.  He wouldn't be Governor much longer, but he owed it to the people of Michigan to give them his best until January.  He'd expected to be busy working on his Presidential transition now.  He'd come so close...

The desk intercom buzzed and Romney pushed the button to respond.  His secretary's voice came through the speaker: "Excuse me, Governor.  There's a phone call that I think you will want to take."

"Who is it?"

"It's George Wallace, sir."

Romney thought for a moment, then took a deep breath.  "Put him through."

TO BE CONTINUED

[tmthforu94]

The suspense.....continue!!!

[GeorgiaModerate]

[I'm back from vacation.  This installment continues immediately after the last brief snippet.]

The light on Romney's desk phone started blinking.  He picked up the handset and said, "George Romney here."

A familiar Southern accent came through the receiver.  "Good morning, Governor, this is George Wallace.  How are you this morning?"

"I'm doing well, Governor.  How about yourself?"

"Doing fine, just fine.  I wanted to congratulate you on your excellent campaign, very clean and well run."

"Congratulations on your campaign as well, Governor.  It was a very impressive result for a third party."

"Best showing since Teddy Roosevelt, they tell me.  Just between you and me, it was maybe a little bit better then I was expecting.  And that brings me to the main reason for this call, although it's always a pleasure talking to you just for its own sake.  I believe that you and I could be of mutual benefit to one another."

"In what way, Governor?"

"Well, it's like this.  You may have heard that my electors are pledged to vote for whomever I direct them to, whether that's myself or someone else, and as a matter of fact this is the case.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you that you're just half a dozen electors short of a majority.  It would be an easy matter for me to deliver more than enough votes for you to be elected President."

"That would be a very desirable outcome, Governor, and I'd appreciate it very much."

"Yes, I'm sure of that.  And that appreciation is what I'd like to talk to you about.  As I said earlier, I'd like to come to an arrangement to both our benefits."

"I see."  Romney paused.  "What form of benefit are you looking for?"

"Nothing for myself personally, Governor.  Something for the common people of each of these United States.  I want them to have the right to decide who they can sell their property to, and I want them to have the right to send their children to their own neighborhood school.  I want the federal government to stay out of these issues." [10]

"What about the Negro people of those states, Governor?  Don't you think they have the right to not be discrimated against?"

"I am not against non-discrimination, sir, but I am against the government of the United States, in the name of civil rights, trying to control the property rights of people.  And I feel the so-called Civil Rights Act is not in the interest of any citizen of this country, regardless of their race. I think it is an infringement upon the property rights system.  I want to see that all people in this country, regardless of their color, do well." [11]

"People whose color isn't white cannot do well under the conditions existing in some states.  It's necessary for the federal government to take steps to end these conditions."

"I believe the governments of those states are likely to naturally overcome those conditions you speak of, to such extent as they may exist, given enough time.  That's all I'm really requesting, Governor. The states need to be left alone to accomplish changes at their own speeds.  The states need to decide, not the federal government."

"With all due respect, Governor, the record of those states in this respect doesn't bode well for their progress in the future."

"Be that as it may, I believe the United States government should not be attempting to force these so-called civil rights upon each state.  I confess it's a surprise to me that you don't feel the same, Governor.  You are known as a man of strong faith, and I admire that.  But your own church has clear opinions on the status of the white man and the Negro, and it's well known that the Church has requested you to refrain from pursuing these policies." [12]

"There may be some truth in what you say, Governor; but as a man of faith, what occurs between the Church and myself is a matter for my own conscience, not for the public arena."

"Of course, of course, and that's how it should be.  But let's return to the topic at hand.  Do we have an agreement?"

"Just to be crystal clear on this, Governor, what you're proposing is to deliver enough of your electors to give me a majority.  And in return, you want the federal government under my Administration to stop its desgregation efforts.  Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir, that would be an admirable summary."

"Well, that's quite a monumental proposition, Governor, and I don't think I can agree to something that significant on the spot.  Do you mind if I think it over for a while?"

"Of course not, of course not.  Tell you what, today is Friday.  Why don't you think about it over the weekend, and I'll call you again on Monday?"

"That would be fine, Governor. I'll expect your call then.  It's certainly been interesting talking to you."

Wallace chuckled.  "Always a pleasure talking to you too, Governor.  Good-bye now."  There was a click as the call was disconnected.

Romney hung up the phone with considerably more force than usual.

TO BE CONTINUED

[10] Wallace was a shrewd politician and knew he had no chance of being elected President.  His goal in running was to create an Electoral College deadlock and use his leverage to pick a winner and force concessions regarding federal desegregation efforts.

[11] This is pretty much an exact quote from an appearance by Wallace on Meet The Press.

[12] The Mormon Church had a history of racism until relatively recently in its history; for example, black men were not allowed into the priesthood until 1978.  The incident mentioned by Wallace actually happened.  One of the Church's leaders wrote to Romney in 1964 urging him to withdraw his support for a civil rights bill.  Romney refused.

[GeorgiaModerate]

November 18, 1968, 2:10 P.M.  Romney picked up the phone.  "George Romney here."

"Good afternoon, Governor, this is George Wallace.  How are you this fine day?"

"I'm fine, Governor, and hope you're the same."

"Yes, indeed.  I'll come right to the point, Governor.  Have you given any thought to the arrangement we were discussing last week?"

"Yes, I have reached a decision."

"And what would that be?"

"I appreciate your offer to have your electors support me, and I hope that you'll see your way clear to do so.  However, I can't agree to halt federal desegregation efforts."

There was a pause before Wallace responded.  "Well, I confess that I'm surprised to hear you say that.  May I ask why not?"

"As you know, I have strongly supported the cause of civil rights for several years.  I can't just abandon that, not even to ensure my election." [13]

"I admire your desire to stand on your principles, but if you don't agree then you'll surely ensure that you are not elected.  And that would be a real shame, because I believe that you would make a fine President."

"Well, if you think that, it would seem to be in your interest to give me your support in any case.  And you would certainly have my appreciation for that; I just can't agree to your proposal."

"I'm truly sorry to hear that.  I'll tell you what; let's not close the matter here and now.  There's still a month until the electors meet.  My offer will remain open -- unless I reach one with the other camp."

"To be blunt, Governor, I don't see why Humphrey would even consider such an arrangement.  He doesn't need your help; if the election goes to the House, the Democrats control a majority of states." [14]

Wallace chuckled. "Be that as it may, the outcome may not be as straightforward as you might think.  We both know that an election is never over until all the votes are counted."

"That's certainly true.  Is there anything else I can do for you today?"

"No, that's all for now, but if you should change your mind, you know how to reach me."

"I will, Governor.  Thank you for calling."

Romney hung up the phone.  What a dreadful little man, he thought.

[13] I firmly believe that Romney would not have accepted Wallace's deal.  It's possible that Nixon, whose support for civil rights wasn't as strong as Romney's, would have agreed (although perhaps I do Nixon an injustice here).  However, one of the premises of this timeline is that Romney's stronger support for civil rights cost him enough votes in the South to allow Wallace to create the electoral deadlock.  Nixon didn't have that problem and was able to win enough Southern states to keep the election from going to the House.  So ironically, Wallace's strategy to force a deadlock works against an opponent who won't agree to his proposal, but doesn't work against an opponent who might have.

[14] I'm assuming that all Congressional elections have the same result as in OTL.  The new Congress has 26 House delegations controlled by Democrats, 19 by Republicans, and 5 split evenly.  There will be more details on this in a future post.

[GeorgiaModerate]

December 16, 1968.  The electors meet in their various states and cast their votes for President and Vice-President.  A furious effort by the Romney camp to persuade the Wallace electors falls well short, flipping only one North Carolina elector. [15]  The final electoral vote is thus:

Romney/Tower 265
Humphrey/Muskie 197
Wallace/Chandler 76

Since no candidate has a majority in the Electoral College, the election will go to Congress in accordance with the 12th and 20th Amendments.  The President will be elected by the House from the top three candidates in terms of electoral votes (in this case, the only three).  Each state will have a single vote, with a majority (26 states) being required to elect the President.  The Vice President will be elected by the Senate from the top two candidates, Tower and Muskie.  Each Senator will have a vote, with a majority (51 Senators) required for election.

The incoming Senate has 58 Democrats and 42 Republicans, while the new House delegations are organized like this: [16]

(Color coding shows the winner of each state: Romney, Humphrey, Wallace).

Democratic control (26):

Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia

Republican control (19):

Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Split delegations (5):

Illinois, Maryland, Montana, Oregon, Virginia

TO BE CONTINUED

[15] This is the reverse of OTL, where one NC elector voted for Wallace instead of Nixon.

[16] I'm assuming that all Congressional elections turned out as in OTL.

[Independents for Nihilism]

Here's to acting president Muskie, I guess!

[GeorgiaModerate]

January 6, 1969, 1:00 PM.  The House and Senate meet in joint session in the House Chamber for the counting of the electoral votes.  The count is usually presided over by the Vice President in his capacity as President of the Senate, but Humphrey chose to turn the gavel over to the President pro tempore, Richard Russell of Georgia. [17]  The certificates from each state and D.C. are opened and read.  An objection to the North Carolina count is accepted by Russell (the written objection is signed by a member from each House, as required), causing the Senate to retreat to its own chamber and each house to vote on it.  The objection would need to pass both chambers for the electoral votes to be rejected.  It fails by large margins on the grounds that the states have the final authority on their electoral votes, and North Carolina's were properly certified by the Governor and Secretary of State.  [18]

Eventually the count is complete, and the totals are as expected: 265 for George Romney and John Tower; 197 for Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie; 76 for George Wallace and Albert Chandler.  Senator Russell announces that there being no majority, the Senate will reconvene in its own chamber to choose the new Vice President from the top two candidates, Tower and Muskie.  After the Senate leaves the chamber, the House will begin the process of choosing the new President from the three candidates.  The Senate vote is quick and straightforward; with 58 Democrats and 42 Republicans, the result is a foregone conclusion.  Tower and Muskie both vote "present", and Muskie is elected Vice President by a party-line vote of 57-41. 

But in the House, things are less straightforward.  The 12th Amendment specifies that the House “shall choose immediately, by ballot...the President.”  Using rules drawn up for the last election to go to the House (1824), each state delegation first votes internally by secret ballot, and then each state's result is placed in a secret ballot box (there is no roll call of states). [19]  When the ballots are counted, six of the Wallace states (all but North Carolina and Tennessee) cast their votes for Wallace despite having overwhelmingly Democratic delegations.  The overall result is:

Humphrey: 20 states
Romney: 19
Wallace: 6
Divided (no vote): 5

Since a majority of 26 states is required, no President is elected.  The House adjourns for the night.

TO BE CONTINUED

[17] Humphrey actually did this in OTL, although there's no compelling reason or tradition that required it.  Plenty of other VPs have presided over counting electoral votes when they've been a candidate, either for President or reelection as VP.

[18] This also happened in OTL.  The NC vote was challenged because of the faithless Nixon elector who voted for Wallace.  Interestingly, the Senator sponsoring the objection was Muskie.

[19] For an excellent resource (and probably more than you ever wanted to know) on elections by the House and Senate, see https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40504.pdf by the Congressional Research Service.