this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2024
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If Kamala and trump both tie the electoral college, which it is looking like a possibility, a new president would be chosen by the new Congress on Jan 6th. Scary to think about

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[–] sh00g@lemmy.zip 55 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

A tie in the Electoral College is an extremely remote chance, less than 1%. Widespread interference in our electoral process as part of a broader scheme to put enough doubt in the vote totals to force the issue to SCOTUS or Congress is literally the plan being executed by Trump and the GOP right now. The best chance we have is overwhelming voter turnout to make those "close" states as decisive as possible.

[–] helloworld55@lemm.ee 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

I mean, it is a possibility. The current swing states (28 Oct) are AZ, GA, NV, NC, PA, WI, and MI, based on NYTimes polls. If Kamala only wins WI, NV, (NC or GA), and AZ, then both candidates end up with 268 electoral votes, and congress chooses the president.

Another option is kamala wins AZ, NC, and GA.

Doing some quick math, that's a 2.4% chance of happening

[–] BakerBagel@midwest.social 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

PA, MI, and WI are all but guaranteed to go together. Any scenarios where they vote for different candidates are mostly just fantasy

[–] randon31415@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

I was just explaining this concept to someone about the 2016 polls: all the posters thought of PA,MI, and WI as independent. Each had a 50% chance of going to Trump and he needed all three to win. So they projected him winning at (1/2)^3=1 in 8 chance of winning. Then they found out that those three were correlated.

I would say if Trump wins WI he wins PA and MI; and if Harris wins PA she wins WI and MI; BUT, if Trump wins PA he is not guaranteed a win in WI nor Harris winning WI guarantees a PA win.

[–] helloworld55@lemm.ee 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yeah that's probably true. Just looking at the polls though, I realized this was a possibility.

Polls could also be wrong, which of course changes the statistics. But from what I've read, it seems like those states are each basically a coin flip, and the odds say a tie is not unlikely enough to ignore

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 3 points 2 weeks ago

Early voter turnout is high in urban areas in NC. Could be another 2008.

[–] errer@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I am mentally preparing myself for one or more recounts in the critical swing states. I highly doubt we’ll know the winner before December.

[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 0 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

1% is one in 100. How many US elections have there been with no tie in the electoral college so far?

[–] Upsidedownturtle@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Of all 59 presidential elections there hasn't ever been a tie. There have been 3 contingent elections where no candidate got a majority of electors in the electoral college:1800, 1824, 1836. The last one being unique because Van Buren got enough electors in the general election but Virginias' electors were faithless and wouldn't vote for him leading to it get shoved to the house where they handedly voted him in.

[–] Restaldt@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Most people: 😨

Statisticians: 🤓

[–] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

538polling estimates this election ends in a tie currently at 4 in 1000 elections, so pretty damn unlikely. That's a 1 in 250 chance.

[–] thenextguy@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago

If only we had an actual count of the number of people who voted for each candidate...

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Please make the headline match the original on the article:

"What happens if there’s a tie in 2024? Be ready for a ‘contingent election’"

You can add your commentary in the body.

[–] noxy@yiffit.net 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

News outlets change their own headlines constantly, hell I'm almost certain they serve different headlines at the same time to see which gets more clicks.

[–] helloworld55@lemm.ee 11 points 2 weeks ago

True, but in this case, I originally posted this with a paraphrased title. It's fixed now

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 weeks ago

If Harris wins Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada and a single electoral vote in Nebraska, all of which Joe Biden won in 2020, but she loses Pennsylvania and Georgia, there’s a tie, 269-269.

Unlike every other state, Maine and Nebraska award two electors to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each congressional district. Those individual, competitive electoral votes in Maine and Nebraska become hugely consequential in potential tie scenarios.

What are we doing right now.

It’s like if Rube Goldberg and Frank Costanza created an electoral system.

And after 32 rounds of voting for the speaker of the house, every member has to spin around in a circle with their fingers on their head, do a little dance, and then they can all gather around the aluminum pole and air their grievances for the year

[–] randon31415@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

What happens if there is a projected tie, but then we have a faithless elector?

Imagine the shit show if Trump secured enough republicans to vote for him in a tie breaking scenario, and then they open the ballots and see one Trump vote go for Romney or something.

[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 4 points 2 weeks ago

Pretty sure Biden has been granted the power to do whatever is necessary.

[–] Thalion@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago

I learned this from VEEP