10.29.2004
And if it's a tie? Expect 'stark raving mad chaos'. For a month (Guardian.co.uk)
Julian Borger in Washington and Oliver Burkeman in New York
Friday October 29, 2004
The Guardian
With four days to go to an election that every poll suggests is too close to call, American political scientists fear a new quirk that could threaten the country's embattled electoral system: a tie.
An exact draw is possible because the president is not chosen by popular vote, but by 538 electors in the electoral college. The electors are chosen by each state and there are many ways George Bush and John Kerry could end up with 269 electors each. In fact, according to a new computer analysis quoted in the Washington Post, there are 33 different permutations that could make that happen.
Thomas Schaller, a political scientist at the University of Maryland, said an electoral college tie remained 'the rarest of outcomes'.
But this year, the country is braced for the unusual, and if the election is a draw, Mr Schaller warned: 'Look for stark raving mad chaos for about a month.'
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | And if it's a tie? Expect 'stark raving mad chaos'. For a month) ¶ 20:41
Friday October 29, 2004
The Guardian
With four days to go to an election that every poll suggests is too close to call, American political scientists fear a new quirk that could threaten the country's embattled electoral system: a tie.
An exact draw is possible because the president is not chosen by popular vote, but by 538 electors in the electoral college. The electors are chosen by each state and there are many ways George Bush and John Kerry could end up with 269 electors each. In fact, according to a new computer analysis quoted in the Washington Post, there are 33 different permutations that could make that happen.
Thomas Schaller, a political scientist at the University of Maryland, said an electoral college tie remained 'the rarest of outcomes'.
But this year, the country is braced for the unusual, and if the election is a draw, Mr Schaller warned: 'Look for stark raving mad chaos for about a month.'
(More ... Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | And if it's a tie? Expect 'stark raving mad chaos'. For a month) ¶ 20:41
