In an election where many people do not support either of the candidates from the two major parties and third party voting is at one of the highest rates in recent history, the question, “what if no one gets the majority?” is not far-fetched. Moreover, this would not be the first time this has happened. In the election of 1824, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Crawford nor Henry Clay received enough votes to win the majority of the vote. The election went to the House of Representatives who selected John Quincy Adams. Therefore, it is a possibility. Regardless of the likelihood, it is worth exploring what will happen if no candidate wins a majority of the votes.
In order to win the presidential election, a candidate needs to win 50%+1 of the vote, or 270 votes in the electoral college. If none of the candidates receive that magic number then the election goes to the House of Representatives, where they will choose a president out of the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each state delegation gets one vote, so representatives from each state must come together and decide which candidate their state will be voting for. To win, a candidate again needs to receive 50%+1 of the vote, or twenty-six votes. Similarly, the Senate will be tasked with choosing a Vice President from the two Vice Presidential candidates that receive the most electoral votes. Each senator can cast one vote for the candidate they think is best suited to be Vice President. The same rule of 50%+1 applies here too, so a candidate needs fifty-one votes to be selected as Vice President. If the House has not elected a president by inauguration day, then the Vice President-elect assumes the office of the president.
Is it likely that this will happen? No, but it is possible (I think we said that about other events in this election that did occur). Currently Evan McMullin, running as an Independent some states and as a write-in candidate in others, is winning the state of Utah. If he wins Utah on Tuesday night it is certainly possible that could be enough to block either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump from getting 270 electoral votes. So, maybe that third party vote was not a waste after all. We will have to wait for Tuesday night to find out.
Brittany Gamlen is a junior majoring in international studies