A 269-269 split is possible

[Null Pointer]

I was fooling with the electoral map on Edwards' site and noticed that just minor changes from 2000 result in a tie in the electoral college. Note, the following are the ways to arrive at a tie using likely battleground states.

Ex:

Kerry wins NH & WV

or

Kerry wins LA

or

Kerry loses IA, but wins AZ and AR

The question here is does the Senate choose the president in the case of a tie? When is the deadline for such a vote?


http://www.johnedwards2004.com/map/

[Gman]

1. Solution:

Give D.C. one electoral vote.

[Sirveri]

3. I thought they already had three?

[Null Pointer]

4. You're right.

They do have 3. I think the previous poster may have been thinking about DC's nonbinding primary process(?)

[Gman]

6. My mistake

I thought DC carried no electoral votes similar to American Samoa, Virgin Islands, etc...

[Endangered Specie]

9. How about give them a senator?

[Lefty Pragmatist]

2. If there is a tie

then the election is decided in the House of Representatives. Burr and Jefferson tied in 1800, and the House gave it to Jefferson after multiple ballots.

[onehandle]

5. Kerry is going to clean up....

The media would love another close race, but trends are hinting no.

Coattails might just get Congress back.

Tom Delay is going down.

[NewJerseyDem]

7. The newly-elected House of Representatives would vote

Each state delegation would get one vote and because of that Bush would almost certainly win due to the republican majority and the fact that republicans have many more states. Even if they lost some seats they would almost certainly still control most state delegations. However, if the popular vote is different a few party members might change their vote to align with the popular vote.

[NewJerseyDem]

8. Utah might get an extra electoral vote

It doesn't seem like it will happen but Tom Davis (R-VA), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, has a proposal to give the delegate from DC, Eleanor Holmes Norton, a vote in the House in exchange for an extra house seat for Utah. However, this would not change DC's electoral votes but would increase Utah's from 5 to 6. That could break the tie.

However, the bill may be too late now anyway to change the number of congressmen for Utah and even Tom Davis admits that it is very unlikely to happen this year.

[joanne]

10. I dont think the election will be that close

It is looking more and more like a great win for Kerry.

Granted there are still months to go, but the way Dumbya is in meltdown in the polls, and with the news getting worse each day it is hard to imagine how this will change.

[GOPBasher]

11. Welcome to DU!

Hello. :hi:

[Scoopie]

12. What chaps me is WHERE

Bush is getting a modicum of support.
Sure, I can understand the ultra so-called "religious" wingnuts (true Christians don't behave like Bush, thus the qualifier) and the millionaires wanting to vote for Shrub - but that's got to be only about 20 to 30 percent of the electorate. Where are the other 10 to 15 percent coming from?
Even conservatives admit Bush isn't a deficit hawk. He doesn't protect the Constitution and he certainly doesn't keep government spending down.
I just have to believe that, as the Iraq mess gets messier, the economy fails to provide good-paying jobs and the world continues to loathe us with a disdain unmatched in our lifetimes, that the 10 to 15 percent of the sane Republicans will either sit it out or quietly vote for Kerry.

[Scoopie]

13. Here's an article that addresses

what I was just saying:

2006 Cuts In Domestic Spending On Table

The White House put government agencies on notice this month that if President Bush is reelected, his budget for 2006 may include spending cuts for virtually all agencies in charge of domestic programs, including education, homeland security and others that the president backed in this campaign year.

Administration officials had dismissed the significance of the proposed cuts when they surfaced in February as part of an internal White House budget office computer printout. At the time, officials said the cuts were based on a formula and did not accurately reflect administration policy. But a May 19 White House budget memorandum obtained by The Washington Post said that agencies should assume the spending levels in that printout when they prepare their fiscal 2006 budgets this summer.

http://tinyurl.com/3ycy2

[yellowcanine]

14. Possible but not likely - 2 states not winner take all - I believe

they are Maine and Nebraska that give an electoral vote to the winner of each electoral district - therefore even if Bush wins Nebraska, Kerry could get 1 electoral vote if he won a congressional district.