# Could the minority party elect a Speaker?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-minority-party-elect-a-speaker/977687>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 5, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-minority-party-elect-a-speaker/977687 "2023-01-05T00:12:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-minority-party-elect-a-speaker/977687/21 "2023-01-06T04:20:17Z")

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> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> So if the winner needs half of votes cast, who are the Democrats voting for?

Hakeem Jeffries (whose district is in Brooklyn), whom they named as their House delegation leader late last year, when Nancy Pelosi stepped down from the position.

In every one of these votes, every single Democrat has voted for Jeffries, so he has gotten 212 votes each time this week.

With a consistent 212 votes, Jeffries could hypothetically win the Speaker seat, even without a single Republican vote, if enough Republicans either don’t show up for a vote, choose to not vote, or vote “present.”

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**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-minority-party-elect-a-speaker/977687/22 "2023-01-06T06:18:17Z")

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> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> if enough Republicans either don’t show up for a vote, choose to not vote, or vote “present.”

Oh please oh please oh please!

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**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-minority-party-elect-a-speaker/977687/23 "2023-01-06T21:22:04Z")

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So how many Republicans do we need to lock in a closet to make this happen?

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-minority-party-elect-a-speaker/977687/24 "2023-01-06T21:24:46Z")

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For Jeffries to win with 212 votes (assuming no Republican crossed the aisle), it would require there to be no more than 423 representatives-elect voting. As there are 434 of them, that means 11 would need to not vote (or vote “present”).

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-minority-party-elect-a-speaker/977687/25 "2023-01-07T00:24:02Z")

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That’s an Imelda Marcos sized closet.

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