Can a tie happen?

Many of you may know that it takes the overwhelming majority of all of the electoral votes in order to become President of the United States. While the amount these votes have varied at times in our history, ever since 1961 we have had 538 electoral votes, so currently it takes at least 270 electoral votes in order to win the presidency. Also, the electoral votes are actually cast by individuals called Electors who are suppose vote for the candidate who wins the majority of the popular votes in the state in which the electors are in (although this isn't always the case).

Now there is a problem with this.

What happens when no one wins the overwhelming majority?

Well, we already know the answer, because this has already happened before.

In the election of 1824 there were four major presidential candidates, all of whom won electoral votes.

Now, Andrew Jackson actually won the most electoral votes, but he didn't have the overwhelming majority of the electoral votes. Due to our laws the election was resolved this the United States Congress. The House of Representatives voted on who would become President (mind you they only got one vote per state, rather then one vote per Representative), and the Senate voted on who would become Vice President (in this case each Senator gets one vote).

In the end John Quincy Adams was elected by the House of Representative to become the President, while John C. Calhoun was vote in by the Senate to become the Vice President.

So back to the question at hand, is it still possible that only two candidates who win all of the electoral votes between that neither one of them still not win the election?

Yes, it is possible.

As you can clearly see the electoral votes are even, and if a candidate was to win the ten states with the highest number electoral votes plus either Virginia, or any combination of states that make up 13 electoral votes, then that candidate will have only 269 electoral vote (as will the other candidate).

Of course this combination isn't actually need, this is just the fastest one I came up with. There are probably dozens of different combinations that can cause this. Plus there is what is called a Faithless Elector who chooses to vote for the candidate other then the one that the other Electors in that state have pledged to vote for (or not vote for anyone if they choose to) and thus you end up getting a tie that way, or neither candidates having enough votes that way.

Then there is of course the possibility of a third candidate (or more) capturing enough electoral votes that it causes the two top candidates to not get enough electoral votes to win.

So in theory it is possible for two major candidates to get a tie in an election (or neither get enough electoral votes) and so what would happen is that for the second time in our history is that our Congress would choose who would become President and Vice President of the United States.

Scary thought, isn't it?

The current Electoral Map of the United States

25 interesting facts about the Vice Presidents of the United States

25. John Tyler is the shortest serving Vice President of the United States, having been in the office for only 31 days before becoming President of the United States upon President William Henry Harrison's death.

24. William R. King is the shortest serving Vice President to have also died in office.

23. Daniel D. Tompkins, Thomas R. Marshall, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Al Gore, and Dick Cheney are the longest serving Vice Presidents, having served two full terms in office.

22. Andrew Johnson is the last person to be elected Vice President of the United States that ran neither as a Democrat, nor a Republican, but, along with President Abraham Lincoln, ran as a candidate for the National Union Party

21. A person must be a natural-born citizen, be at least 35 years old, and must have been a permanent resident of the United States 14 years in order to be eligible to run for Vice President, same as President.

20. Unlike with the President of the United States, there are no term limits for the Vice President.

19. There has been more Vice Presidents of the United States then Presidents of the United States. 47 Vice Presidents to be exact, while there has been only 43 Presidents.

18. John C. Calhoun is the only Vice President to be Vice President under two different political parties: The Democratic-Republicans, and the Democrats.

17. John Tyler and John C. Breckinridge are the only two former Vice Presidents to side with the Confederate States during the Civil War. Breckinridge even fought for the Confederate States as a Major General.

16. Alben W. Barkley is the oldest Vice President. He was 71 when he assumed the office, and 75 when he left.

15. John C. Breckinridge, at the age of 36, became the youngest person to become Vice President.

14.  The longest living Vice President was John Nance Garner, who was almost 99 years old when he died.

13. The shortest lived Vice President was Daniel D. Tompkins, who was almost 51 years old when he died.

12. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Richard Nixon all had two Vice Presidents.

11. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had three Vice Presidents, and thus more Vice Presidents then any other President.

10. Presidents John Tyler, Millard Filmore, Andrew Johnson, and Chester A. Arthur never had a Vice President.

9. No Vice President has ever been assassinated.

8. George Clinton and John C. Calhoun are the only two Vice Presidents to serve under two different Presidents.

7. The Presidential election of 1800 is the only election where the current Vice President ran against the current President.

6. The elections of 1789, 1792, and 1796 are the only ones which a Vice President was elected that was of a different party then the President.

5. Martin Van Buren and George H. W. Bush are the only Vice Presidents to be elected President of the United States and after the terms of the presidents they served under, Andrew Johnson and Ronald Reagan, ended. Ironically, both only served one term, while their predecessors served two terms.

4. Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson, are the only four Vice Presidents to become president after the previous president died, and then win a presidential election on their own.

3. John Tyler, Millard Filmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, and Gerald Ford are the only five Vice Presidents who later became President of the United States, but was never elected president, and only became president after the previous presidents died or resigned.

2. John C. Calhoun and Spiro Agnew are the only two Vice Presidents to resign from office. Calhoun resigned to take a seat in the United States Senate. Agnew resigned due to criminal charges, which he later pleaded no contest to.

1. George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, William R. King, Henry Wilson, Thomas A. Hendricks, Garret Hobart, and James S. Sherman are the only Vice Presidents to die in office.