Amidst the escalating tension of the 2024 presidential race, a question emerges from the thicket of political prognostication: Could it come down to a tie in the Electoral College between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris? As the nation braces for Election Day, VERIFY reader Jabbar and a clutch of online observers are pondering the plausibility of a 269-269 split in the electoral vote count, as reported by KVUE.
Examining the mechanics of the Electoral College, it's affirmed that an Electoral tie is not just a figment of political theater but a bona fide mathematical possibility. To clinch the presidency, a candidate has to snag at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes up for grabs, as per VerifyThis.
If the Electoral College delivers America to such an unprecedented crossroads, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution takes the wheel, per information from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and National Constitution Center. In this rare event, the onus to break the tie would fall upon the House of Representatives in a "contingent election." In what may seem like a diplomatic tango, each state delegation, irrespective of its size or partisan lean, would cast a singular collective vote, with 26 states needed to hoist a candidate to victory.
Despite the dramatic intrigue woven into the fabric of this potential political impasse, experts at nonpartisan outlets like 270toWin and ABC News’ 538 project cast doubt on its likelihood. "There is a less than 1-in-100 chance of no Electoral College winner," as stated by KVUE, positioning a tie as an outlier scenario in a field of probabilities shaping the political landscape.
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