Here’s an interesting twist: what if Michael Bloomberg runs as a 3rd party candidate and siphons some electoral votes from, say Clinton and Trump, keeping them both from attaining the necessary 270 electoral votes.
Could create a very interesting situation.
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So, what happens if none of the presidential candidates gets 270 electoral votes?
Let’s put another puzzle piece in place re: a wild scenario of how the GOP could prevail even if Trump runs as a 3rd party candidate …
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What happens if no presidential candidate gets 270 electoral votes?
Back in January, Homa Files posted the answer to the question.
At the time, it looked like Ron Paul might make a run as a 3rd party candidate, potentially being a spoiler, depriving Obama or Romney of the necessary 270 electoral votes.
Well, Paul is out of the picture … but there’s increased chatter that Obama and Romney could end up tied in electoral votes.
So, what happens if neither presidential candidate gets 270 electoral votes?
As we reported in January, according to the Electoral College web site …
If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each State delegation has one vote.
The Senate would elect the Vice President from the 2 Vice Presidential candidates with the most electoral votes, with each Senator casting one vote for Vice President.
Note that for President, each state gets one vote in the House … not each rep. So a majority of each state’s reps determine the state’s vote.
And, yes, it’s possible that the tickets could be split.
For example, the GOP House-elect would certainly pick Mitt … and the Senate Dem majority could select Biden … and certainly would if the Senate-elect is split 50-50 between Dems and GOP. For details, see our post Trick question: How many electoral votes does Romney need to become President?
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Click here for a short video: What If the Presidential Election is a Tie?
The Homa Files 