US heading for a contingent election: What if a President is not declared by Jan 20

Washington, Nov 04: US President Donald Trump's premature move to claim a victory and also approach the Supreme Court have confirmed the fears of the Democrats that were voiced weeks back.

The Democrats said that Trump would look to dispute the election results. This would now end up in a number of political and legal battles and finally the presidency would be determined by combinations of courts, state politicians and Congress.

A close election would result in litigation over voting and ballot counting procedures in battleground states. Cases that are filed in individual states could reach the Supreme Court eventually. In 2000, Republican George Bush prevailed over Democrat, Al Gore by just 537 votes after the High Court had halted a recount.

Under the Constitution, the candidate who wins the majority of 538 electors known as the Electoral College becomes the President. In 2016, Trump had lost the national popular vote to Hillary Clinton, but secured the electoral votes-304-227.

A candidate who wins each state's popular vote earns the state's electors. This year the electors would meet on December 14 to cast their votes. On January 6, both chambers of Congress would meet on January 6 to count the votes and declare the winner.

Governors normally certify the results in their respective states and share the information with Congress. However, it is unclear whether Congress should accept the governor's electoral slate or not count the state's electoral votes at all.

In 1876, three states appointed duelling electors which promoted the Congress to pass the Electoral Count Act in 1887. Under the act, each chamber of Congress separately decides which slate of the duelling electors should be accepted. The electoral count is conducted by the new Congress, which will be sworn in on January 3. Currently the Republicans hold the Senate, while Democrats control the House of Representatives. The Act says that the electors approved by each state's executive should prevail.

If the two chambers do not agree then Vice President Mike Pence as senate president can throw out the state's disputed electoral votes entirely. When neither candidate has secured a majority of votes would trigger a contingent election under the 12 Amendment of the Constitution. This would mean that the House of Representatives will select the President while the Senate would select the Vice President.

Each state delegation in the House gets a single vote and as of now Republicans control 26 of the 50 state delegation, while the Democrats have 22. In the event of a 269-269 tie after the election, a contingent election would take place.

The Constitution mandates the terms of the President should end on January 20. Under the Presidential Succession, if the Congress is unable to declare a President or Vice President, then the Speaker would serve as the acting president. The current Speaker is Nancy Pelosi.