The 2024 presidential election has already brought some remarkable, unexpected moments. A sitting president drops out of the race. A former president becomes a convicted felon. Multiple assassination attempts. The list goes on and on.

With polls pointing to a stunningly close race, some observers have raised the prospect of another extremely unlikely – but not impossible – twist: a tie in the Electoral College. If Donald Trump and Kamala Harris each end up with 269 electoral votes, rather than one candidate exceeding the threshold of 270 needed to win, then the US will face its first “conditional election” in nearly 200 years.

In this case, it is up to Congress to elect the next president. Lord, help us.

What is a quota election?

A quota election occurs when no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes. This could theoretically happen for a number of reasons, such as if a third party wins enough votes to prevent another leading candidate from reaching 270, or if so-called “faithless” voters decide to go back on their promise to vote for their party's candidate. to break.

This can also happen if there is a tie between two candidates.

Under the terms of the 12th Amendment, the House of Representatives would then elect the president. Each state delegation would receive a single vote to cast among the three candidates with the most votes for their preferred choice. Whoever gets 26 or more votes would become president.

It's also worth noting that Washington, D.C., which is allocated three Electoral College voters, would not receive a vote in an eventual election because it is not a state.

A newly elected Congress would vote in such a scenario, they said Congressional Research Service. Therefore, the outcome of the congressional elections would have a major impact on the election of the president.

In the 2024 elections, Republicans have majority control of 26 state delegations. Democrats have a majority in 22 states, while Minnesota and North Carolina are tied.

Decisions, decisions…

It's unclear exactly how state delegations would cast their single vote for president. They would not be required by law to vote for the candidate who won the statewide popular vote, or even for the candidate who won the most votes in their state.

While the House of Representatives elects the President, the Senate would elect the Vice President. Each senator would have the opportunity to cast one vote for their choice between the two vice presidential candidates with the most votes. The candidate who receives 26 or more votes in the Senate vote wins.

Since the president and vice president would be elected in separate votes, it is possible that candidates from opposing parties could be elected. For example, if the Republicans and Democrats retain their respective control of the House and Senate, it could result in Donald Trump returning to the White House with Tim Walz as his running mate.

Other strange results are possible. A conditional new election would take place immediately after the new Congress meets to count and certify electoral votes on January 6th. If state delegations in the House of Representatives fail to elect a president by Inauguration Day (January). 20 – then the vice president-elect would temporarily serve as president.

In the event that the Senate is also hopelessly deadlocked and does not elect a vice president by Inauguration Day, the Speaker of the House would serve as president until one or more vice presidents are elected.

Unprecedented? Not quite

Here too, a possible choice remains unlikely – but it has happened before. There have been two such elections since the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804.

In 1824, four presidential candidates won Electoral College votes. Andrew Jackson had the most votes with 99, but fell short of the 131 then needed for a majority. The resulting election in the House of Representatives resulted in Jackson's rival, John Quincy Adams, being elected president.

Just 12 years later, in the 1836 race, there was another election, but only for vice president. Virginia voters became “faithless” and refused to cast their 23 Electoral College votes for Richard M. Johnson, Martin Van Buren's running mate, even though Van Buren had won the election. An eventual Senate election resulted in Johnson being elected vice president anyway.

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