Florida's Legislature Picks the Electors
Some states have legal provisions which permit the legislature to pick electors in case of an emergency. Florida does not seem to have such a provision in its statutes regarding presidential electors. State law simply says that electors, "The Department of State shall certify as elected the presidential electors of the candidates for President and Vice President who receive the highest number of votes."
Nonetheless, it is feasible that the Florida state legislature could, in such an unusual circumstance, select the state's representatives for the Electoral College. Such a move would probably be met with major political fighting -- imagine a lame-duck state legislature picking a President! -- but there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution to prohibit it.
Note, however, that the Florida state legislature is dominated by Republicans. Currently, the Florida state Senate has 25 Republicans out of a total 40 senators. The Florida House of Representatives has 76 Republicans out of 121 members. Does that make it more likely they will select Bush?
| Whom does the Florida legislature pick? |
(1) BUSH. If you think the Florida state legislature votes along party lines to make George W. Bush president, click here to continue.
(2) GORE. If you think the legislature decides to give the election to Gore, the probably winner of the national popular vote, click here to continue.
(3) BOTH. It is also possible that the Florida legislature could pick electors for both Bush and Gore. Two states (Maine and Nebraska) already permit their Electoral College slates to be divided if the state's voters are divided. What if Florida divided its Electoral College votes? If you think this might happen, click here to continue.