Talk of an Electoral College tie between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden is growing as election results show a tight race between the candidates.
“There are certainly scenarios in play (if Biden loses Pennsylvania but wins Arizona) where we wind up with a 269-269 tie. In that case, Biden would need to carry either Nebraska or Maine’s second congressional district to win. Nebraska is the more likely of the two, although given that Biden won New Hampshire, Maine-2 is plausible for him also,” FiveThirtyEight pollster Nate Silver said in a Tuesday post at around 11 p.m. EST.
A candidate needs 270 electoral votes of 538 to win the White House.
A tie would likely leave the fate of the presidency in the hands of the House, where representatives in each state would form a delegation. Should no electors go rogue when they meet in December, each state delegation would cast a single vote for president in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.
Though Democrats control a majority in the House, Republicans control a majority of states, 26 precisely. This means Democrats would have to convince one state delegation to vote against the Republican incumbent. The only state with a divided delegation is Pennsylvania, consisting of nine Democrats and nine Republicans.
The House will continue voting until a majority of state delegations reaches a conclusion. Should they fail to determine a winner by Inauguration Day, the vice president determined by the Senate will serve as acting president until the House makes a determination. Each senator casts one vote for vice president, and if Democrats manage to earn a majority, the presumptive victor would be California Sen. Kamala Harris.
Should there be a failure to reach 270, it would be the first time since the early 19th century that a candidate was unable to secure a majority of Electoral College votes.
The election is close, but there are still roads for either Biden or Trump to win the Electoral College. Fox News projects that Biden won the battleground state of Arizona, while Trump earned Florida, Ohio, and Texas.
The results of the election may not be known for the next several days.
