Examkin

Question

Difficulty: EasyPresidential Nominations and the Electoral College

Under the United States Constitution, if no candidate for president wins a majority of the votes in the Electoral College, which of the following procedures is used to choose the president?

  1. The House of Representatives selects the president, with each state delegation receiving one vote.Answer
  2. B
    The candidate who won the national popular vote is automatically declared the winner.
  3. C
    The Senate selects the president, with each senator casting one vote.
  4. D
    The Supreme Court reviews the voting patterns and selects the president.

Answer

The House of Representatives selects the president, with each state delegation receiving one vote.
The correct answer is correct because the Twelfth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution establishes that if no presidential candidate secures a majority of electoral votes, the election is deferred to the House of Representatives, where each state's delegation receives a single vote.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the constitutional mechanism for resolving a presidential election where no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes.
The Twelfth Amendment governs this scenario.
The Electoral College requires a candidate to win a majority (currently 270 out of 538 electoral votes) to win the presidency.
2
Determine which body is responsible for choosing the president under the Twelfth Amendment.
The House of Representatives is designated to choose the president.
The Constitution separates the contingent election processes, assigning the presidential selection to the House and the vice presidential selection to the Senate.
3
Identify the voting rule used by the House of Representatives during this selection.
Each state delegation casts one vote.
Rather than individual representatives voting, the representatives from each state must pool their votes to cast a single vote for their state.

Key Concept

Electoral College Mechanics and the Twelfth Amendment
Rate this question

Topics

Presidential Nominations and the Electoral College

More questions from this topic