does the attorney general have a say in when the electoral vote happens

by Adelia Keebler 10 min read

Do electors have to vote for the candidate they vote for?

Jan 19, 2022 · The Nevada Attorney General’s Office will neither confirm nor deny it is investigating fake electoral votes submitted to the federal government from the Nevada Republican Party declaring former President Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election, but Attorney General Aaron Ford said the issue is on their “radar.”

What happens if there is no majority in the Electoral College?

Jan 06, 2021 · Biden won the Electoral College vote 306-232, but Trump has refused to concede and has instead repeated unproven allegations of widespread vote fraud that have been rejected by the Supreme Court ...

What happens to electors on Election Day?

States can require Electoral College voters to back the victor of their state's popular vote, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday, in a major dispute that could have an impact on ...

How does the Electoral College work in your state?

Jan 03, 2021 · Reset. Done. NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Electoral College members across the country cast their votes Monday to officially declare Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Wednesday's ...

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Who has the power to regulate presidential elections under the constitution?

Article I, Section 4, Clause 1: The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

What does the Constitution say about Electoral College votes?

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, ...

What does the U.S. Constitution say about presidential elections?

The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for ...

Who elects the President if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes?

If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote. The Senate elects the Vice President from the two vice presidential candidates with the most electoral votes.

Where in the Constitution does it talk about Electoral College?

Established in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, the Electoral College is the formal body which elects the President and Vice President of the United States.

Who makes up the Electoral College and how are they selected?

Who selects the electors? Choosing each State's electors is a two-part process. First, the political parties in each State choose slates of potential electors sometime before the general election. Second, during the general election, the voters in each State select their State's electors by casting their ballots.

Is the Constitution the right to vote?

Since the "right to vote" is not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution except in the above referenced amendments, and only in reference to the fact that the franchise cannot be denied or abridged based solely on the aforementioned qualifications, the "right to vote" is perhaps better understood, in layman's terms, ...

Who are the electors in the Electoral College?

When people cast their vote, they are actually voting for a group of people called electors. The number of electors each state gets is equal to its total number of Senators and Representatives in Congress. A total of 538 electors form the Electoral College. Each elector casts one vote following the general election.

What is the 13th Amendment in simple terms?

Thirteenth Amendment, amendment (1865) to the Constitution of the United States that formally abolished slavery. ... Abraham Lincoln in 1863 during the American Civil War, freed only those slaves held in the Confederate States of America.

What if no one gets 270?

If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the Presidential election leaves the Electoral College process and moves to Congress. The House of Representatives elects the President from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most electoral votes.

What happens if no one runs for president?

Presidential election If no candidate for president receives an absolute majority of the electoral votes, pursuant to the 12th Amendment, the House of Representatives must go into session immediately to choose a president from among the three candidates who received the most electoral votes.

Why are there 100 senators in the Senate?

Every U.S. state elects two people to represent them in the US Senate. These people are called senators. Since there are 50 US states, there are 100 senators. Senators only serve six years at a time, and one-third of them are picked every two years.

What is the Electoral Count Act?

Under the Electoral Count Act, a petitioner from both the House and Senate are required to challenge a state’s slate of electoral votes, and the objection must be in writing . Cruz has indicated he'll join the House in objecting to Arizona, according to a source familiar.

How many votes did Biden get in the election?

Biden won the Electoral College vote 306-232, but Trump has refused to concede and has instead repeated unproven allegations of widespread vote fraud that have been rejected by the Supreme Court, his attorney general, state election officials and dozens of other courts.

Which states did Biden win?

House Republicans are preparing to object to the electoral votes in at least six states that Biden won -- Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nevada. As of Tuesday afternoon, it was unclear how many states would get support from a senator, which is necessary for any debate to begin. Cruz will object to Arizona, ...

Who is the senator for Amy Coney Barrett?

It would be as though Arizona never voted. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., speaks during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020.

What happens after the debate?

After the debate, the House and Senate will both vote on whether to accept that state's electors. It's a roll call vote that will document how each lawmaker stands on each state's electors. It takes both the House and Senate to reject a state’s electoral votes. If that happens, the electoral slate just disappears.

Who is Jena Griswold?

Jena Griswold, the Colorado secretary of state, wrote in a post on Twitter that the “unanimous decision by the Supreme Court ensures that Americans’ voices will be heard in the Presidential election. We must fight all attempts to suppress voters and any corruption in our elections.”.

Can you require the electoral college to back the victor of your state?

States can require Electoral College voters to back the victor of their state’s popular vote, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday, in a major dispute that could have an impact on November’s presidential contest.

What is the electoral college?

Constitution, the Electoral College is the formal body which elects the President and Vice President of the United States. Each state has as many "electors" in the Electoral College as it has Representatives and Senators in the United States Congress, and the District of Columbia has three electors. When voters go to the polls in a Presidential election, they actually vote for the slate of electors who have vowed to cast their ballots for that ticket in the Electoral College.

How many electors does the District of Columbia have?

The District of Columbia has had three electors since the Twenty-third Amendment was ratified in 1961. There have been other attempts to change the system, particularly after cases in which a candidate wins the popular vote, but loses in the Electoral College.

When was the House of Representatives meeting?

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives. About this object The House and Senate met in a Joint Session on February 12, 1913, to count Electoral College votes for the 1912 presidential election. Since 1887, 3 U.S.C. 15 has set the method for objections by Members of Congress to electoral votes. During the Joint Session, lawmakers may object ...

What happens when you go to the polls?

When voters go to the polls in a Presidential election, they actually vote for the slate of electors who have vowed to cast their ballots for that ticket in the Electoral College.

What is faithless elector?

During the nineteenth century, “faithless electors”—those who broke their pledge and voted for someone else —were rare, but not uncommon, particularly when it came to Vice Presidents. In the modern era, faithless electors are rarer still, and have never determined the outcome of a presidential election.

What happens if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes?

This has happened once since the passage of the 12th Amendment, in 1824. In the case of either situation, the process would be as follows: States certify the results of each of their November 3, 2020, popular votes and appoint electors based on these ...

When will the 117th Congress meet in 2021?

The newly-elected 117th Congress meets in joint session on January 6, 2021 , to count the electoral votes. In the case of a tie, the House becomes responsible for electing the President, while the Senate is responsible for the Vice-President.

Does the District of Columbia have a vote?

The District of Columbia does not cast a vote. Choosing between the two candidates who received the most electoral votes for Vice-President, each Senator casts a vote, with a majority (51) needed to win. Due to these separate votes, it is possible that a President and Vice President from different parties could be elected.

What is the 2020 election?

The 2020 election took place against a backdrop of uncertainty. Our readers had questions about what to expect in elections at all levels of government, from the casting of ballots to the certification of final results. Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk was designed to answer those questions.

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Electors

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Most states require that all electoral votes go to the candidate who receives the most votes in that state. After state election officials certify the popular vote of each state, the winning slate of electors meet in the state capital and cast two ballots—one for Vice President and one for President. Electors cannot vote for a
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Procedure

  1. With the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution (and starting with the 75th Congress in 1937), the electoral votes are counted before the newly sworn-in Congress, elected the p...
  2. The date of the count was changed in 1957, 1985, 1989, 1997, 2009, and 2013.Sitting Vice Presidents John C. Breckinridge (1861), Richard Nixon (1961), and Al Gore (2001) all announ…
  1. With the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution (and starting with the 75th Congress in 1937), the electoral votes are counted before the newly sworn-in Congress, elected the p...
  2. The date of the count was changed in 1957, 1985, 1989, 1997, 2009, and 2013.Sitting Vice Presidents John C. Breckinridge (1861), Richard Nixon (1961), and Al Gore (2001) all announced that they had...

Objections

  • Objections to the Electoral College votes were recorded in 1969, 2005, and 2021. In all cases, the House and Senate rejected the objections and the votes in question were counted.
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Amending The Process

  • Originally, the Electoral College provided the Constitutional Convention with a compromise between two main proposals: the popular election of the President and the election of the President by Congress. 1. Prior to 1804, electors made no distinction between candidates when voting for president and vice president; the candidate with the majority of votes became Preside…
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Contingent Elections

  • In the case of an Electoral College deadlock or if no candidate receives the majority of votes, a “contingent election” is held. The election of the President goes to the House of Representatives. Each state delegation casts a single vote for one of the top three contenders from the initial election to determine a winner. 1. Only two Presidential elections (1800 and 1824) have been de…
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