What if Donald Trump and Joe Biden draw at 269
To win the presidency of the United States, the two candidates must win 270 electors: at the moment the projections show us a head to head between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. And what would happen if the final ballot ended in a 269-269? So let's see what happens in the event of a tie in the US elections and why this hypothesis could come true this year.
The US presidential election does not have a winner yet. The information and data that arrived overnight, however, tell us a few things: first of all that the outgoing president, Donald Trump, is not so far from a second term as polls have stated in recent weeks. But for now it's a heads up and it may take several hours for an official outcome to arrive. To win the victory, the two candidates must win 270 electors and at the moment each of these could reverse the result. But what if Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden ended up 269 to 269 instead?
In this case it would end up in the so-called contingent election. According to the twelfth amendment, at this point the decision would be up to the House. Of which the Democrats have just taken over and won the majority. The last word would be that of the majority in the delegation to the Congress of each state. In order for it to be possible to elect a president in this context, 26 votes would be needed, otherwise the vice president would take the field. It would be up to the Senate (where the majority was confirmed as republican) to appoint him.
What happens in the event of a tie in the US elections
The breakeven scenario is a decidedly hypothetical scenario which, however, could be achieved very easily. Given the margin between the two candidates, much narrower than expected in recent days. If the count results in a tie, the ball would pass to the state delegations in the Chamber. Which, as mentioned, have a democratic majority. An eventuality that was already realized in 1800, when Thomas Jefferson was elected and then in 1824 when Andrew Jackson won.
However, it is necessary to wait for the final outcome of the count. Which could be a few days later this year. Largely because of the major appeal by voters to vote by post. Also due to the coronavirus pandemic, approximately 65 million citizens have voted in the presidential elections by post. A factor that will delay the final ballots and that could reserve some surprises in the coming hours.
