title: Election of the President and Vice President by Congress: Contingent
 Election
creator: Neale, Thomas H
creator: Government and Finance Division
publisher: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress
date: 1999-08-16
language: English
description: The 12th Amendment to the Constitution requires that candidates for
 President and Vice President receive a majority of electoral votes (currently
 270 or more of a total of 538) to be elected. If no candidate receives a
 majority, the President is elected by the House of Representatives, and the
 Vice President is elected by the Senate. This process is referred to as
 contingent election and is the topic of discussion in this report.
subject: Elections
subject: Presidential elections - Congressional powers
subject: Congress
subject: Presidents
type: Text
format: 6 pages.
format: Text
identifier: crs: RS20300
identifier: local-cont-no: RS20300 1999-08-16
identifier: http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs956/
identifier: ark: ark:/67531/metacrs956