who chooses the president if no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes
If no candidate for President receives an absolute electoral majority 270 votes out of the 538 possible, then the new House of Representatives is required to go into session immediately to vote for President. In this case, the House of Representatives chooses from the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each state delegation has a single vote, decided by majority decision (an evenly divided state delegation is considered to abstain). A candidate receiving the majority of votes of all states (currently 26) is declared the president-elect. If no candidate receives a majority, the House proceeds to a second ballot and continues balloting until a candidate receives a majority of the state unit votes. This situation would most likely occur only when more than two candidates receive electoral votes, but could theoretically happen in a two-person contest if each received exactly 269 electoral votes. As of 2007, the Democratic Party controls 26 state delegations, and the Republican Party controls 20.
the House of Representatives
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