37
votes
Accepted
What is the Legal Process if Electoral Certificates are Damaged?
Stealing those papers (from Congress' session) would not change the legality of their recording with the Archivist according to the Electoral Count Act (3 U.S. Code § 6)... which by the way says that ...
- 133k
31
votes
Why continue counting/certifying electors after one candidate has secured a majority?
One of the reasons why all votes are counted is that the votes still have to be recorded in the Journals of both Houses of Congress. The Vice President "opens the envelopes" for the votes to ...
- 46.5k
25
votes
Why continue counting/certifying electors after one candidate has secured a majority?
The counting of electoral votes in Congress is a ceremonial institution, like so many other things in political and social life. There's no practical reason why Presidents, Congresspeople, and other ...
- 65.1k
18
votes
Why continue counting/certifying electors after one candidate has secured a majority?
Why, then, do they need to continue through the rest of the states?
I'll try to bring this to a more personal level.
Suppose someone named Zachary Zzyzx works or volunteers for an organization that ...
- 12.6k
16
votes
What is the Legal Process if Electoral Certificates are Damaged?
This is a "constitution as a computer programme", and it seems unclear because there is no constitutional procedure. When a computer program tries to access a resource and finds it missing ...
- 113k
11
votes
Why continue counting/certifying electors after one candidate has secured a majority?
Counting all the votes means listening to the public. It's basic politeness and respect.
It also provides interesting and significant data. I wouldn't be content to know a candidate won without ...
- 1,950
10
votes
Accepted
Does the Twelfth Amendment allow the possibility of a President and Vice President from different parties being elected?
Yes
For example, if the election results were
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine 267
Donald Trump/Mike Pence 266
Gary Johnson/Bill Weld 5
Democrats and Never Trump Republicans could form a coalition ...
- 89.2k
9
votes
Accepted
What happens in the event of a tie for a 12th amendment House vote?
I wasn't able to find a conclusive legal opinion on this, and there's no precedent (the only time the 12th Amendment sent an election to the House - in 1824 - there were no state ties).
As such, ...
- 91.2k
5
votes
Accepted
Do Representatives from the US House of Representatives have to vote for President?
The House of Representatives cannot vote for Vice President if no one has a majority. That's the Senate's job. They can't be blocked from doing it, because it was never something they could do in the ...
- 13.8k
4
votes
Accepted
What candidates can be voted on in a deadlock in a general election?
In a state with numerous representatives, what would the process look like to narrow down a choice to a single vote for their state?
It's a simple plurality vote by secret ballot. It's likely that ...
- 89.2k
3
votes
What happens in the event of a tie for a 12th amendment House vote?
But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of ...
- 89.2k
2
votes
Accepted
Would the outgoing VP break a Senate tie for his successor?
No. As you quoted the 12th Amendment, "a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice." With 100 members in the Senate, this means 51 senators need to choose the same person. With an ...
- 36
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