It is possible that after the election, neither President Donald Trump nor former Vice President Joe Biden have enough Electoral College votes to be president.
A 269-269 tie is unlikely, but possible under different scenarios, including the one mentioned below
Here is the unlikely, but possible scenario, that results in a 269-269 tie. pic.twitter.com/f7lGPOmDE7
— Joe St. George (@JoeStGeorge) November 2, 2020
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
If neither presidential candidate gets 270 Electoral College votes, the Constitution requires the House of Representatives to pick the president.
The Senate would pick the vice president.
The newly sworn-in House and Senate in January would pick the next president and not the current Congress.
But just because Democrats are poised to be in charge of the House of Representatives again doesn't mean Joe Biden would automatically win.
According the rules, each state delegation in the House of Representatives would get a vote. That vote would be for the candidate a majority of Representatives in the delegation support.
That means California, which has the largest population of any state, would only get one vote.
Wyoming, which has the smallest population of any state, would get one vote as well.
Currently, Republicans control 26 House delegations and Democrats only 22. The other state delegations are tied.
If the new House of Representatives looks like the current House of Representatives, Trump would likely win re-election.
There are however scenarios where the Democrats would win enough seats this election to have a majority of state delegations. If that happens, Biden would be president.