What happens if neither get 270

What that means: All of the House members from one state come together and vote, like their own mini state. Each delegation gets one vote. While Democrats continue to hold a majority in the House overall, when broken down by state delegation, Republicans control a majority of the state delegations.

That means it could be good news for Trump if the race goes to the House. In the Senate, members vote individually for the next vice president. Visit the National Secretaries of State website to locate contact information and web addresses for the Secretary of State from each state and the District of Columbia.

If the President-elect fails to qualify before inauguration, Section 3 of the 20th Amendment states that the Vice President-elect will act as President until such a time as a President has qualified. In the unlikely occurrence that both the President-elect and Vice President-elect fail to qualify by the beginning of the presidential term, Congress established an order of succession in 3 U.

There is no Federally-required process to follow if a candidate who is projected to receive electoral votes dies or becomes incapacitated between the general election and the meeting of electors. However, individual States may have their own requirements that govern how electors must vote at the meeting of the electors. In , when Horace Greeley passed away between Election Day and the meeting of electors, the electors who were slated to vote for Greeley voted for various candidates, including Greeley.

The votes cast for Greeley were not counted due to a House resolution passed regarding the matter. Section 3 of the 20th Amendment states that the Vice President elect will become President if the President elect dies or becomes incapacitated. If a winning Presidential candidate dies or becomes incapacitated between the counting of electoral votes in the Congress and the inauguration, the Vice President elect will become President, according to Section 3 of the 20th Amendment.

Title 3 of the United States Code establishes procedures for the Electoral College process and requires that States settle any controversies regarding their electors at least 6 calendar days before the meeting of the electors. It is up to Congress to determine what to do in the event one or more States cannot meet the statutory deadlines. However, the Constitution does not require that States appoint electors based on the popular vote, so a State may be able to resolve the controversy under State law, appoint electors, and issue a Certificate even if a recount is pending.

Even if a State is unable to resolve a controversy by the statutory deadline, nothing prevents the State from appointing electors. Resolving controversies before the statutory deadline eliminates the potential for one type of challenge during the counting of the votes in Congress. See 3 U. It is important to remember that the President is not chosen by a national popular vote. The Electoral College vote totals determine the winner, not the statistical plurality or majority a candidate may have in the national popular vote totals.

Electoral votes are awarded on the basis of the popular vote in each state. Note that 48 out of the 50 States award Electoral votes on a winner-takes-all basis as does the District of Columbia. And the Senate votes for the new Vice-President. For the HOR, each state delegation gets one vote, so they must all vote together in a bloc. Simple majority wins and determines the newly elected President.

For the Senate, each Senator gets one vote individually-and again the majority vote determines the new Vice-President. Just like what happened in with Jefferson and Burr the rules did change slightly following that election, but it was the first Contingent Election in the United States. Members of the Electoral College gather in their states on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December following the election to officially elect the president.

The electors will meet on Dec. If the votes go to the House, states will vote as units. What that means: All of the House members from one state come together and vote, like their own mini state. Each delegation gets one vote. While Democrats continue to hold a majority in the House overall, when broken down by state delegation, Republicans control a majority of the state delegations.