It’s very unlikely — but theoretically possible — that the presidential election ends with an Electoral College tie. If it did come to pass, here’s how the next president would be determined.
It’s very unlikely — but theoretically possible — that the presidential election ends with a 269-269 tie in the Electoral College.
That would mean that neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump, who are locked in a toss-up race, wins enough electoral votes to become president.
This hasn’t happened in modern American politics — it did happen back in 1800 — and after a renewed effort to change how Nebraska allocates its electoral votes failed, it is now looking even less likely that a tie would occur.
But if this year’s election did end 269-269, the U.S. Constitution does have a plan for what happens next. Experts and scholars point to Article II of the Constitution as well as the 12th Amendment to outline how this would work.
Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has written a lot about presidential elections and presidential nominations, said we “have a pretty good rulebook” for where things go if there is a tie.
