What if No Candidate Wins US Presidential Election? Here's What Will Happen If Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden Fail to Get Majority of Electoral Votes
Americans are anxiously waiting for the presidential election results. What if there's no clear winner?
New York, November 7: Counting of ballots has been going on for over three days, but the race for the White House between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is still unresolved. Donald Trump is approaching US courts as Joe Biden has gained a slim lead in battleground states like Georgia and Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Americans are anxiously waiting for the presidential election results. What if there's no clear winner? US Presidential Election Results 2020: Joe Biden Should Not Claim Victory, My Lead Will Return After Legal Proceedings, Tweets Donald Trump.
US presidents are not decided by the national vote, but by winning enough states or electoral votes in each state. To win the White House, 270 electoral votes are needed. As of Friday evening, Biden had 264 electoral college votes, 6 short of the 270 needed to become President, and Trump had only 214, according to The Associated Press. The only way Trump can get re-elected is by capturing 56 of the remaining 60 votes. US Presidential Election Results 2020: Georgia Votes to be 'Recounted', Confirms Official as Slim Margin Separates Joe Biden, Donald Trump.
What if No Candidate Wins US Presidential Election?
If no candidate receives a majority in the election for president or vice president in the United States, a contingency procedure, established by the 12th Amendment, comes into effect. In such a situation, the House of Representatives chooses one of the top three presidential electoral vote-winners as the President, while the Senate picks one of the top two vice-presidential electoral vote-winners as the Vice President.
If the Senate chooses the Vice President and the House does not decide on the President before the inauguration (noon on January 20), then the Vice President-elect becomes acting President until the House selects a president. If both House and Senate don't choose a president and vice president till the inauguration, then the Speaker of the House would become acting president until either the House selects a president or the Senate selects a vice president. None of these situations has ever occurred.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 07, 2020 08:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).