Odd scenarios let Congress
pick winner
By Paul Reid, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 20, 2000
If you thought it was confusing up to now . . .
The Florida legislature may have to select
Florida's presidential electors if state election
results are not certified by Dec. 12, the day
electors are scheduled to be picked based on
certified voting results. But if nobody has won,
the electors could be picked by lawmakers
based on their assessment of the intent of
Florida's voters.
And in case you're wondering, the Florida House
and Senate are controlled by Republicans.
The state legislature can, by law, exercise its
authority to pick electors if Florida Secretary of
State Katherine Harris cannot or will not perform
her duties for any number of reasons, including,
but not limited to: total deadlock or breakdown in
the vote counting process, or the legislature
feels the Florida Supreme Court forced her to act
in a capacity or manner contrary to her legal
duties as spelled out by . . . the legislature.
In other words, the Florida Legislature can step into the fray between the
executive and judicial branches to reassert its right to make the rules. It can't
change the rules, but it can exercise its authority to get a job done if the job
is not getting done because of a donnybrook between the other two branches
of government.
Are you following this? Because it gets as bizarre as a Laredo tree frog
hopping through a hot parking lot.
So, conceivably, the Republican Florida Legislature will pick the electors who
cast Florida's 25 Electoral College votes. Will those electors be for Bush or
Gore? Take your pick, but remember who's in charge in Tallahassee.
And keep this in mind: If Florida can't get its electoral act together and sends
no electoral results to Washington, Gore wins -- because the absence of the
state's 25 votes would lower the required majority to 258 electoral votes. As of
Sunday, Gore was credited with 267 electors.
The Florida Legislature will not abide passing on this election. Florida will
send a slate of 25 votes to Washington. Maybe two slates, depending on the
vote results and how the legislature reacts to those results.
"The specter is raised," said Tom Feeney, speaker-designate of the Florida
House.
"Specter," as we know from our Webster's dictionary, is "an object of dread."
On Jan. 6, a joint session of the United States Congress approves or
disapproves the voting results of the Electoral College. Another way of looking
at it: Congress will approve or disapprove of the electors, all electors,
including Florida's, of course. This is not usually an occasion for a partisan
vote. Everybody says yea and goes home. But not this time. People are
watching, on the lookout for "faithless" electors, shenanigans, weird things.
The House-Senate vote on Jan. 6 will be historic.
But (now there's a word we've come to know in the last 13 days): The U.S.
Constitution allows a simple majority of both House and Senate to toss out a
slate of electors for good reason, such as fraud or a fuzzy vote count in a
particular state. A state like, say, Florida.
But the Constitution is a little sketchy on just what constitutes a legitimate
beef. In fact, individual congressmen can make motions to disqualify individual
electors or entire slates.
It's happened before. In fact, a dysfunctional Electoral College allowed
Rutherford B. Hayes to finally beat Samuel J. Tilden in 1877. Three states just
couldn't get their electoral act together, so Congress appointed a commission
to work things out, and the commission elected Hayes, even though he had
lost the popular vote and probably had lost the electoral vote in those three
states. The big -- and deciding -- state contested by Hayes and Tilden?
Florida.
That was clearly an exception to the gentility and grace that rule, for the most
part, in the U.S. Congress. Then again, Election 2000 is not in the least part
usual.
If the U.S. Congress, for whatever reason, fails to validate the results of the
Electoral College, that is, if a president is not chosen by both houses, the
U.S. House of Representatives gets to do the job. The rules: The House will
convene, and each state will choose one representative who will vote for
president. Simple majority wins.
Rest assured, that if it comes to this, Gore loses -- because Republicans
appear to control 28 state delegations in the next House, more than the
majority needed to assure a GOP victory. One state, one vote, adds up to
George W. Bush.
If the House picks Bush, things get curiouser. The Senate elects the vice
president. Sort of a consolation prize. Depending on the outcome of the
too-close-to-call U.S. Senate race in Washington state, the U.S. Senate will
either be controlled by Republicans, 51-49, or be split 50-50 between
Democrats and Republicans.
In case of a tie on a Senate vote, the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate
casts the deciding vote. That officer is the vice president. Al Gore will be the
vice president on Jan. 6. Who would Gore vote for? Try Bush-Lieberman on for
size. Ha, you say. That's crazy.
Well, this election is more confused than a manatee in the produce aisle at
Winn-Dixie.
But that's not all. If the U.S. Congress cannot work things out, or if a state
sues to keep its electors viable, the Supreme Court of the United States gets
into the picture and Election 2000 becomes Selection 2001 -- A Political
Odyssey.
What's it going to take to end all this? Maybe, the fat lady has to . . . die? |
