In an incredibly weird situation, a third party candidate died and now the seat won't be filled in November. Currently the incumbent is a democrat but this seat could have been a pickup for the GOP. Per MN law the seat will be unfilled until a February special election. So now not only could we have a 269-269 EC tied and a 50-50 senate, we could theoretically have a 217-217 House

Yes, but on a 269-269 EC tie, the actual house members dont get a vote. Each states delegation gets 1 vote. SO it probably doesnt affect anything.

That is a weird law.

Curious how “major party nominee” is defined.

(09-24-2020 06:28 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  Curious how “major party nominee” is defined.

In MN its a candidate whose party got over 5% previous election

(09-24-2020 06:11 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  Yes, but on a 269-269 EC tie, the actual house members dont get a vote. Each states delegation gets 1 vote. SO it probably doesnt affect anything.

A tie would leave the House' without a Speaker unless a compromise could be reached

(09-24-2020 06:36 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-24-2020 06:11 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  Yes, but on a 269-269 EC tie, the actual house members dont get a vote. Each states delegation gets 1 vote. SO it probably doesnt affect anything.

A tie would leave the House' without a Speaker unless a compromise could be reached

Correct. I meant it didnt really affect the outcome of the election. After the new house in in session, its fubar for a few weeks.

Also, lulz at a party getting 5% and being "major".

Doomsday scenario:

EC tie or faithless electors prevent a candidate from getting 270, so no Pres or VP.

House and Senate both split even as are state delegations.
House cannot elect a President or a Speaker.
The Senate has no VP to break ties so no Senate President Pro Tempore since that is the senior member of the majority party.

No new President = No New Cabinet = No Line of Succession

(09-24-2020 07:20 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Doomsday scenario:

EC tie or faithless electors prevent a candidate from getting 270, so no Pres or VP.

House and Senate both split even as are state delegations.
House cannot elect a President or a Speaker.
The Senate has no VP to break ties so no Senate President Pro Tempore since that is the senior member of the majority party.

No new President = No New Cabinet = No Line of Succession

That would (obviously) be a disaster for the country.

I can’t deny, though, that the political sadist inside of me would sorta-kinda enjoy watching the drama unfold.

I’ll say this, though: any realistic scenario that involves the Democrats at +3 in the Senate elections (resulting in 50-50) means the Dems have retained their overall House majority.

(09-24-2020 09:03 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(09-24-2020 07:20 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Doomsday scenario:

EC tie or faithless electors prevent a candidate from getting 270, so no Pres or VP.

House and Senate both split even as are state delegations.
House cannot elect a President or a Speaker.
The Senate has no VP to break ties so no Senate President Pro Tempore since that is the senior member of the majority party.

No new President = No New Cabinet = No Line of Succession

That would (obviously) be a disaster for the country.

I can’t deny, though, that the political sadist inside of me would sorta-kinda enjoy watching the drama unfold.

A compromise would be reached. It would just take forever.

And it would probably be just as corrupt as the Corrupt Bargain that decided the 1876 election. In that one, the Democrats conceded the Presidency to the Republican in return for Republicans allowing the Democrats to institute Jim Crow laws throughout the South.