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2016 Postmortem

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orleans

(35,519 posts)
Tue Dec 13, 2016, 02:17 PM Dec 2016

is there any way around this? or are we completely f*cked? [View all]

some discouraging news--from a piece in time back in november

"If any faithless elector ends up swaying the outcome of the election, federal lawmakers have a couple of avenues of recourse, both of which are baked into the U.S. Constitution.

"The first applies if an elector abstains or flips his vote in such a way that it results in an Electoral College tie. In such a case, then a little known provision buried in the Twelfth Amendment mandates that the House decides the president, while the Senate chooses the vice president. Each state delegation in the House casts one vote for president, and whichever candidates get the simple majority wins.

"The second constitutional check is more broad. On January 6, 2017, the newly elected Congress will meet to determine if the Electoral College vote was “regularly given.” For most of the country’s 57 past presidential elections, this vote has been ceremonial. But it doesn’t have to be. If just one House member and one senator objects to the way that the Electoral College vote played out—for example, if a faithless elector swings the final tally—then the new members can retreat to chambers to vote on what to do about it. If the House and Senate agree, their decision is final. If the House or the Senate do not agree, then the dispute goes to the “executive of the state,” meaning the state’s Secretary of State, who would make the final call."

http://time.com/4560682/faithless-electors/

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