“Contingent Election” of the President, & More from CRS
What would happen if no candidate for President of the United States won a majority of electoral votes?
The Congressional Research Service explains: “In these circumstances, the 12th Amendment . . . provides that the House of Representatives would elect the President, and the Senate would elect the Vice President, in a procedure known as ‘contingent election’.”
This is not a purely speculative scenario. “Contingent election has been implemented twice in the nation’s history under the 12th Amendment: first, to elect the President in 1825, and second, the Vice President in 1837.”
See Contingent Election of the President and Vice President by Congress: Perspectives and Contemporary Analysis by CRS Specialist Thomas H. Neale, November 3, 2016.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
The Terrorist Screening Database and Preventing Terrorist Travel, November 7, 2016
Pipeline Security: Domestic Threats, CRS Insight, November 3, 2016
Individual Income Tax Rates and Other Key Elements of the Federal Individual Income Tax: 1988 to 2017, updated November 4, 2016
Treasury’s Recent Report on Foreign Exchange Rate Policies, CRS Insight, November 3, 2016
U.S.-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications, updated November 4, 2016
Moldova: A Pivotal Election?, CRS Insight, November 4, 2016
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