What happens if Trump and Biden get 269 votes each?
WASHINGTON D.C. (Times Media Mexico) – The US election is looking like it’s going to be close between Donald Trump and Joe Biden – but what happens in the event that they tie in the electoral college? So far, it is unclear whether the Trump will be getting a second term, or whether Biden has done enough to win. With key swing states yet to call a winner, it’s going to be a close call.
To win the US election a candidate needs to get 270 electoral college votes out of a possible 538. So what happens if it’s a tie, and each candidate wins 269 votes each?
In the scenario that Trump and Biden win 269 electoral college votes each, the House of Representatives will choose the President, and the Senate will choose the Vice President.
In the House of Representatives, each state has one vote regardless of population. That vote will go to whichever party controls the state’s delegation. As it stands, the Republican Party controls the delegation in 26 states, while the Democrat Party controls 22 states.
The other states currently have a tied delegation, with an equal number of Republican and Democrat representatives.
But it’s the newly sworn-in House and Senate that would decide the President and Vice President, not the current Congress.