This is the strangest year most of us can remember, so when it comes to the 2020 presidential election, why not dream up a crazy scenario of multiple ties and extended congressional voting that could ultimately mean President Pelosi?
If the election is a tie, at 269 electoral votes each for Joe Biden and President Donald Trump — Nebraska and Maine allocate electoral votes proportionally — then the 12th Amendment comes into play: It goes to the House of Representatives, and each state delegation gets a single vote.
As things stand today, Trump would likely win re-election in that case, since the GOP has the edge in total states. But the state delegations vote after they are sworn in. If Republicans lose Florida and Pennsylvania, it’s possible there is a tie in the House.
“Guys, just saying: if Biden wins Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan, but Trump wins Pennsylvania, NE2 and ME2, and all the other states voted the way they did in 2016 … it’s a 269-269 Electoral College tie,” tweeted The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro.
“Then the election is thrown to the House, where each state gets one vote based on delegation. Right now, Republicans hold the majority. But the Electoral College vote happens AFTER the newly elected house representatives are sworn-in. If PA and FL flip blue by Congressional delegation, we have a 25-25 tie.”
If Congress is unable to choose a president by Jan. 20, 2021, the day the president’s term expires, the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 kicks in, NBC News reports. That would almost certainly mean, at least temporarily, President Nancy Pelosi.
The House has decided two elections in U.S. history — in 1800 and 1824 — but this is 2020, and a tie is realistic enough that both parties are attempting to leverage some kind of advantage.
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