tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post8322100015042382310..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: The Obvious Way to Fix the EC Tie ProblemJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-855583448005873272012-10-22T19:39:48.078-05:002012-10-22T19:39:48.078-05:00Since this came up. Currently, 33 state delegatio...Since this came up. Currently, 33 state delegations are majority republican, 15 are majority Democratic, and 2 are tied. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112th_United_States_Congress<br /><br /><br />So, given the 1 "vote" per state in the House, if a Presidential election gets there, the current House (which I think would have to be the one that votes) would vote 33-15, with 2 abstentions, for Romney.<br /><br />Given what I've read about how Congressional races seem to be going, I wouldn't expect the split to change much in the new Congress.Don Coffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07198988872512792834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-43239108285214088352012-10-22T19:11:46.279-05:002012-10-22T19:11:46.279-05:00The real problem with a tied Electoral College vot...The real problem with a tied Electoral College vote isn't with the presidency but the vice-presidency, because it could go to someone of the opposite party--in 2012 a Romney-Biden administration seems the most likely outcome of a tie. Now, you might ask, what's wrong with that? (I'll assume that Romney wins the popular vote, so that few people will question his moral as well as legal claim to the presidency.) Nothing, as long as the president stays alive. But I don't want a situation where, say, a helicopter accident or, worse, an assassination, could change the party controlling the White House.David Tnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-8330689283782000372012-10-22T16:37:24.850-05:002012-10-22T16:37:24.850-05:00This is kind of an aside, but I've been thinki...This is kind of an aside, but I've been thinking a lot about this today as all my fave bloggers have been talking about the electoral college: who cares? If either Romney or Obama show even a little bit more strength in the national tracking polls for a few days, then the conversation will be about what an Obama second term will look like (or what a Romney Presidency will look like if it goes the other way.<br /><br />I know that wasn't the point of your post, and it was an informative read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-28186349231727590192012-10-22T16:06:54.801-05:002012-10-22T16:06:54.801-05:00I've never quite understood why the solution f...I've never quite understood why the solution for DC hasn't just been to give it BACK to Maryland. After all, Virginia's contribution to the district was given back to Virginia in 1846; why can't Congress just give back the residential parts of DC to Maryland? <br />Maryland would gain a seat in the next census (perhaps the House would temporarily swell to 436 until then?), seats that would most likely be Dems (and, interestingly enough, this looks like it might come from the Dems, as the "narrowest" apportionment was Minnesota's, who nearly ended up with 7 seats, and that would likely be a Dem seat, I'm guessing).<br />Naturally, the even-numbered House for a whole decade would be bad, but the whole situation is bad.Matt Jarvisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-84781543641855562092012-10-22T15:18:57.935-05:002012-10-22T15:18:57.935-05:00But his proposal is to avoid ties in the Electoral...But his proposal is to avoid ties in the Electoral College without setting up the House for potential ties in normal, everyday votes.Scott Monjenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-88800806839833834622012-10-22T15:07:34.708-05:002012-10-22T15:07:34.708-05:00My first reaction when reading this post was, &quo...My first reaction when reading this post was, "Well, why not break a tie with the national popular vote." <br /><br />This was quickly followed by realizing that there is no official national popular vote. In fact, the federal government basically does no vote-counting. The states do all the counting for Congressional elections. <br /><br />One more reason why a national popular vote just wouldn't work: imagine setting up some mechanism for all 50 states (and all of their precincts, counties, cities, etc) to each report uniformly to the federal government. And, horror of all horrors, imagine a nation-wide recount. EJFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15003280330346649632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-30945116268789406872012-10-22T15:02:55.924-05:002012-10-22T15:02:55.924-05:00So...you think there's...some possibility of 5...So...you think there's...some possibility of 537 or 539 EV in the foreseeable future? Hm. (Note to self: go register "fivethirtyseven.com" and "fivethirtynine.com" anonymously - for all inquiries except Nate Silver's of course).CSHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-7842349610830889042012-10-22T14:59:16.176-05:002012-10-22T14:59:16.176-05:00I'm not quite sure on this, but would the vote...I'm not quite sure on this, but would the vote take place with the current house, or with the new house comprised of the members chosen on election day?<br /><br />I suppose what annoys me the most is that an outgoing house could choose the President for the next four years, after having been voted out of office.<br /><br />It seems like the most effective tie-breaker is popular vote, right? Highly, highly unlikely to be tied and gives the power to the majority vote of the country. I imagine the founders were intent on giving the tie breaker to the states, but I don't see any reason to keep at it.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06455148881718879961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-40225106447266090472012-10-22T14:56:27.019-05:002012-10-22T14:56:27.019-05:00I still don't understand why this is a better ...I still don't understand why this is a better solution than abolishing the electoral college and having a national popular vote. Or why any other solution would be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-3940623193678995772012-10-22T14:50:42.293-05:002012-10-22T14:50:42.293-05:00In the event of an EV tie, each STATE gets one vot...In the event of an EV tie, each STATE gets one vote, not each member of Congress. Voting continues until there is a winner. So the raw number of members is not an issue, although adding DC as a state would prevent a first-round tie.DonBoynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-84452533024036146482012-10-22T14:35:37.328-05:002012-10-22T14:35:37.328-05:00...and the same goes for Puerto Rico. Of course it......and the same goes for Puerto Rico. Of course it helps that these are areas in which there are significant numbers of minorities. If they were mostly white people, it wouldn't stand.goetheanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15719480062271188223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-40723508584250440932012-10-22T14:33:49.311-05:002012-10-22T14:33:49.311-05:00If DC had happened to be majority Republican, do y...If DC had happened to be majority Republican, do you think that it would have gone all this time with its population having no representation?<br /><br />Personally, I think that we would have been treated to a non-stop stream of arguments from all of the usual media outlets (including mainstream ones) about the AWFUL INJUSTICE of it until DC was given representation. But because the population is mostly Democrats, it is irrelevant and verboten.purushanoreply@blogger.com