# Presential Tie **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2000, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presential-tie/35423 "2000-10-03T00:21:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trout)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presential-tie/35423/1 "2000-10-03T00:21:42Z")
What happens if none of the presidental candidate achieve the required number of electoral votes to become president? How is the president decided? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presential-tie/35423/2 "2000-10-03T00:36:01Z")
Then the president is chosen by the House of Represenatives: From [http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/elctcoll/index.html#top](http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/elctcoll/index.html#top) > [@](#): > > If no presidential candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution > provides for the presidential election to be decided by the House of Representatives. The House would select the President by majority vote, choosing from the three candidates who received the greatest number of electoral votes. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presential-tie/35423/3 "2000-10-03T00:36:16Z")
Coin toss. Or arm wrestling. I forget. Seriously, though, I think it’s in the Constitution somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presential-tie/35423/4 "2000-10-03T00:56:34Z")
John Quincy Adams was so selected - he actually got fewer electoral votes than Andrew Jackson (who won the next election). But Jackson didn’t have a majority, and the House elected Adams. Jefferson was also chosen by the House. ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presential-tie/35423/5 "2000-10-03T00:57:16Z")
It’s important to remember that when the House picks the President, the winner is the individual who wins the most _delegations_, not the most Representatives. That is, all the Representatives from a state vote _en bloc_ and their votes sum to one. A delegation evenly split could not cast a vote. As to the possibility (not alluded to in the OP) of three candidates getting E votes with no majority, this could result in a lot of House delegations being split three ways. Would a plurality be sufficient to result in the state’s vote being cast? I mean, if a seven-member delegation gave two of its “sub-votes” to Nader, and three to Buchanan, and two to Hagelin, would its real vote be given to Buchanan, or to no one at all? I don’t know. Electing a tied Vice Presidency is easier - the Senate only picks from the top two candidates, and each Senator has only one vote. _relieved sigh_