patrick.net

Tired of the constant internet bullshit about Nancy becoming 'Acting President' being posted here on PatNet, I hereby provide the definitive description on the process that is called the Contingent Election:

What triggers it:

Either there arises as situation where the Electors do not award 270 or more votes to one candidate

-OR-

In the special joint session of the CURRENT Congress in early January chaired by the VP that votes up and down on final approval of each state's Electoral College ballots, enough get voted down so that no one candidate has at least 270 Electoral College votes remaining. FYI: This joint session ALWAYS happens no matter what the circumstances of the Electoral College outcome. Always has. Just rarely covered by the media so most Americans aren't aware of it.

Of these two scenarios, the first is much more likely to happen...and has happened in the past...than the second one, as it has NEVER happened that Congress has discarded EC votes to the point where no candidate has that 270 magic number remaining.

What happens after it is triggered?

The NEXT Congress, as soon as it is seated in January, votes for POTUS and VPOTUS.

VPOTUS: Each Senator gets one vote. There has to be 51 votes to decide. Since VP Pence can vote to break ties, he may do so in this situation if need be. Just like legislation or confirmations passing the Senate only no filibuster applies. They vote to elect one of the top two EC vote getters for VPOTUS.

POTUS: Each state DELEGATION votes en bloc for POTUS. That means ALL of California's 52 or so Reps have one collective vote. Same 'collective' vote as the lone Representative from Wyoming does. That means 26 state collective votes are needed to elect POTUS. They vote to elect one of the top three EC vote getters for POTUS.

Red States currently have 26 state delegations in the House and that number is the same for the next Congress, I think.. However, nothing forces congresscritters how to vote which particular way. They vote however they want. The lone congresscritter from Wyoming I mentioned earlier COULD vote for Biden. Or the one from Alaska (more probable than the one from Wyoming). In that case, there would be a tie. If enough defect, Biden could even win.

If there is a tie, they must keep voting over and over again until they break it and elect a POTUS...

...OR if they never get their shit together:

then the Vice President Elect chosen by the Senate gets sworn in when the new POTUS term starts later in January.

IF there is no VP Elect because the Senate didn't get its shit together either, then the Speaker of the new House (currently projected to be Pelosi) gets sworn in as POTUS. Not Acting POTUS, just plain old POTUS. The Presidential Succession Act of 1974 makes that clear.

It IS possible that enough Dems defect to the GOP to call for a new Speaker. In that case, the GOP Speaker would be come POTUS.

So if Pence becomes POTUS, a new VP would have to be appointed and confirmed by the Senate. There's nothing stopping him from nominating Trump and the GOP confirming him. Unlikely, but still. There is also nothing stopping him from resigning right after and letting Trump take over.

...and Trump could run for re-election in 2024 in that situation, as he was appointed to VP and then succeeded POTUS Pence after he stepped down to finish the 2021 - 2025 POTUS term, NOT ELECTED.

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice..." - Section 1, 22nd Amendment

And that is the no-bullshit version of the story, kiddies.

PLEASE bookmark this fucking thing. Because any of you post any more bullshit versions from some idiot you read on the internet will get this thrown into your face in the harshest way possible.

Libtards are low-information idiots:. Don't be a Libtard!