Contingent elections have occurred only three times in American history: in 1801, 1825, and 1837. Each state’s delegation casts one en bloc vote to determine the president, rather than a vote from each representative. Senators, on the other hand, cast votes individually for vice president. In such a situation, the House chooses one of the top three presidential electoral vote-winners as president.
About Contingent election in brief
In the United States, a contingent election is the procedure used to elect the president or vice president in the event that no candidate for one or both of these offices wins an absolute majority of votes in the Electoral College. Contingent elections have occurred only three times in American history: in 1801, 1825, and 1837. Each state’s delegation casts one en bloc vote to determine the president, rather than a vote from each representative. Senators, on the other hand, cast votes individually for vice president. In such a situation, the House chooses one of the top three presidential electoral vote-winners as president, while the Senate chooses the top two vice-presidential electoral vote winners as Vice President. Under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the Speaker of the House would become acting president until either the House selects a president or the Senate selects a vice president, but none of these situations has ever occurred. The phrase \”contingent election\” is not found in the text of the Constitution but has been used to describe this procedure since at least 1823. The House of Representatives is required to go into session immediately to choose a president from the three candidates who received the most electoral votes, pursuant to the 12th Amendment. If no president-elect is chosen in time for the inauguration, then the vice-President-elect becomes acting president Until then, Congress may statutorily provide who will be president if there is neither a president- elect nor a vice-elect in place at the time of the inauguration for both offices.
The Electoral College consists of 538 presidential electors from the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Electors usually pledge to vote for their party’s nominee, but some faithless electors have voted for other candidates. These presidential electors in turn cast electoral votes for those two offices. Although ballots list the names of the presidential and vice presidential candidates, voters actually choose electors when they vote for president and vicepresident. Since the election of 1824, a majority of the states have chosen their electors on a statewide winner-take-all basis, based on the statewide popular vote on Election Day. Maine and Nebraska are the only two current exceptions, as both states use the congressional district method. Since ratification of the 23rd Amendment in 1961, the presidential electors are directly elected by their respective states. The electors that make up the electoral College are directly chosen by the respective states, and they are chosen on a congressional district basis. In 1836, faithless. electors in Virginia refused to vote. for Martin Van Buren’s vice- presidential nominee Richard Mentor Johnson, denying him a majority. of the electoral vote and forcing the Senate to elect him.
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This page is based on the article Contingent election published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 05, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
