WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter Sunday preparing House Democrats for the possibility that neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden will receive the necessary 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.


What You Need To Know

  • Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Democrats laying out the possibility that the House could decide the presidential election

  • If neither Trump nor Biden receive 270 electoral votes, the next president would be decided by the House

  • Each state delegation would get to cast a single vote -- right now, Republicans have the advantage

  • The scenario hasn't played out since Rutherford B. Hayes was elected in 1876

 

If that happens, the House will determine the winner in a Jan. 3 vote. But despite holding the majority of seats in the chamber, Democrats are currently at a disadvantage.

The 12th Amendment gives each state delegation in the House a single vote, meaning the candidate from the party that has a majority in the most states would likely win. Currently, Republicans control 26 delegations, Democrats control 23, and Pennsylvania is tied. 

In her letter, Pelosi noted the stakes are higher than ever in some House races, which could impact the party’s priorities in the 36-day run-up to Election Day.

"We must achieve that majority of delegations or keep the Republicans from doing so," she wrote, according to Politico, which first reported on the letter.

States where Democrats could take over the majority or force a tie in the delegations by flipping a single seat are Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming, as well as Pennsylvania. 

"We cannot leave anything to chance,” Pelosi wrote. “House Majority PAC is doing everything it can to win more delegations for Democrats. It's sad we have to have to plan this way, but it's what we must do to ensure the election is not stolen."

Congress has not decided a presidential election since Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Samuel Tilden in 1876.