Quite a bit earlier in the day (at least, in the U.S. EST; probably yesterday for those of you in Israel), the following text was sent, and I want to clarify what really happens in American elections:
> Consider the Electorals method in the US. What > if it was a one vote difference. On a tie, the > chairmen of Congress becomes the president as > far as I know ... There are not very many scenarios in which the Electoral College can be tied, 269-269. This year, there was a slightly-larger probability of that, but it still would have been unlikely. However, as Electoral votes are not usually changed by the electors themselves (though, in some states, they do have the right to change their minds - and this has happened), the following Constitutional procedure would be implemented: If no candidate receives at least 270 electoral votes, then the delegations of each State in the House of Representatives vote, and each State casts one vote, with a majority being necessary to elect a candidate for President. The Senate votes to determine the Vice President, again by a simple majority, but of members, not states. So, for example, Ohio has 18 representatives in the House, but the 18 reps vote, and the winner of that vote receives Ohio's vote in the House. Ohio's two senators could disagree - so that's one vote for each candidate. If the House fails to elect a President (with 26 state votes), the Vice President-elect then becomes President. In the history of the United States, there were three occasions in which there was no majority in the Electoral College: 1800, 1824, and 1876. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each received equal numbers of votes - but at that time, the second-place candidate in the Electoral vote became VP. The Constitution was amended to prevent that from happening again (12th). In 1824, Andrew Jackson received a plurality of both the popular and electoral vote, but did not have sufficient support in Congress after some politicking; therefore, John Quincy Adams was elected by the House. In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden were left without a majority because Tilden was one vote short and there were some disputed electoral votes. A congressional committee voted to award Hayes the disputed votes and, thus, the election. So, please tell me, though this is off-topic: if elections were to be held in Israel in which two parties split the vote evenly - 60 Knesset seats for each - and the sides were unwilling to cooperate, how would the government be determined? May that scenario never happen... William ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
