Thursday, May 5, 2016

Plan B

I'd may as well point out that a state's presidential electors do not necessarily have to be elected by the voters of the state through a general election. Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution provides, "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector." A state's legislature can choose to have that state's electors selected in a different way (though the selection still must take place on the day after the first Monday of November).

However, because the legislatures of many states would no doubt be reluctant to take advantage of this option, I should also point out that it is not necessary for states controlling a majority of the total number of electors to choose a different method in order to affect who is ultimately elected President. If enough states choose a different method that they succeed in preventing any candidate from winning a majority of electoral votes, the choice of a new President will be given to the U.S. House of Representatives, where each state's delegation would be able to cast a single vote, choosing between the top three recipients of electoral votes. 

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