House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is looking at the possibility that the House of Representatives may have to decide the presidential election and has begun to mobilize members of the Democratic Party for the effort.
According to Politico, Pelosi sent a letter to House Democrats on Sunday and directed them to keep this possibility in mind as they direct resources for the Nov. 3 elections.
According to the Constitution, the House of Representatives decides a presidential election if no candidate wins enough Electoral College votes. This last happened in 1876. Today, a presidential candidate needs 270 votes to secure victory.
"The Constitution says that a candidate must receive a majority of the state delegations to win," Pelosi wrote, Politico reported. "We must achieve that majority of delegations or keep the Republicans from doing so."
The 12th Amendment of the Constitution says that if the House is forced to choose the next president, each state's House delegation has one vote. The chamber would vote in early January, after the new Congress is sworn in, which makes the November House elections even more important for both parties.
According to Politico, Democrats have a one- or two-vote advantage in seven states that will likely have at least one close House election in November: Arizona, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, and New Hampshire. Republicans have an advantage in Florida, which is also expected to be close.
The RealClearPolitics national average shows Democrat Joe Biden with a 7-point lead over President Donald Trump.
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