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What If the Presidential Election is a Tie?

Script:

The United States, picks its president with the Electoral College, 538 votes distributed by population (mostly) to the 50 States and DC. To become president you need to win a majority of those votes. But, 538 is an even number, so what happens when the race for president is tied?

Don't worry, there's an 18th century solution to the problem: if the Electoral College is tied, the House of Representatives breaks that tie.

As the name implies, the House is filled with representatives from each of the states. The more people in a state, the more Representatives it has and their are 435 in total -- thankfully an odd number and guaranteed tie breaker... except there's a catch: each representative doesn't get one vote, it's each State that gets one vote. So, Florida's 27 representatives have to decided amongst themselves who to support before casting Florida's one vote to help break the tie.

Meanwhile, thinly-populated Alaska's sole representative, has only to consult himself before casting Alaska's vote.

This is an incredibly disproportionate system because just ten states, California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina contain more than half the population of the United States but get only 20% of the votes if the race for president is tied and the other 40 states with less than half the population get 80% of the votes.

While an exact tie is unlikely, this system is also used if they're more than two candidates for president and none of them gets a majority in the Electoral College.

Which is exactly what happened when four candidates ran for president in 1824. Andrew Jackson got the most votes from Americans and the most votes in the Electoral College, but not a majority, so the race was turned over to the House of Representatives voting as states who picked John Quiny Adams instead.

In a modern America with more states a three-way race can have horrifically disproportionate results: consider a third-party candidate who the loves the small states and who the small states love in return.

He gets the fewest Electoral College votes, but enough to ensure that neither of the two more popular candidates get a majority so now the House decides the winner -- and those 26 smallest states representing just 17% of the population can pick their man as president even though 83% of Americans didn't vote for him.

It's unlikely, but it really shouldn't even be possible.

Anyway, all this talk of presidents has left the Vice President unmentioned: a reasonable person might assume, just comes along with the President, but no.

When there's a tie the Senate independently picks the Vice President so the United States, could end up with a President from one party and with a Vice President from the another, which might make for some very uncomfortable meetings.

But even this crazy system for resolving a tie isn't guaranteed to work because are 100 members of the senate and in the House of Representatives they're forced to vote as 50 states and many of those states have10 or 8 representatives making the whole system tie-tackular with all of those even numbers.

So if the House can't pick the president but the Senate has picked the Vice President then the Vice President becomes acting president until the House can make up its mind. But if neither the House can pick the president nor the Senate can decide the Vice President then the speaker of the House becomes president until either branch of congress picks someone.

So this systems is how the United States would resolve a tied race for president, though it might be faster (and more fair) to just flip a coin.

Of course you could just get rid of the electoral college, and thus this whole crazy system, and instead have a national vote, perhaps even with something fancy like preferential voting, maybe that's just a crazy idea.

The (Secret) City of London Part 2

The City of London is a unique place -- it's the city in a city (in a country in a country) that runs its government with perhaps the most complicated elections in the world involving medieval guilds, modern corporations, mandatory titles and fancy hats, all of which are connected in this horrifying org chart.  Why so complicated?

Though the new Skyscrapers might make you think the City of London is relatively young, it's actually the oldest continuous government on the Island of Great Britain.

The City of London predates the Empire that Victoria ruled, the Kingdoms Anne united and the Magna Carta that John, reluctantly, signed.

While the London which surrounds the city only got to electing its first Mayor in 2000, the list of Mayors who've governed the City of London is almost 700 people long going back more than a thousand years.

The City of London's government is so old there's no surviving record of when it was born -- there are only documents, like the Magna Carta, which mention the pre-existing powers the City of London already had at that time.

While a government like the United States's officially gets its power from the people, and Parliament gets its power from the Crown, (which in turn gets it from God), the City of London gets its power from 'time immemorial' meaning that the City is so old, it just is.

And that age brings with it unusual and complicated traditions, the most notable of these, perhaps, is that in city of London elections, companies get votes.

Quite a lot actually, about 3/4th of the votes cast in City elections are from companies with the remaining 1/4th from residents.  The way it works is that the bigger a company is the more votes it gets from the City of London.  The companies then give their votes to select employees who work, but do not live, within the city and it's these employees who do the actual voting at election time.

The result is that the Common Council, the bureaucratic beating heart of the City of London, has about 20 common councilors elected by residents of the city and about 80 elected by companies of the city.

The reasoning behind this unusual tradition is that for every 1 person who lives in the City of London, 43 people commute in every day.  In total that's 300,000 commuters using City services and whose employment depends on the City of London being business friendly.

The man in charge of the common council and who heads The City's government is The Right Honorable, the Lord Mayor of London.

Now, suppose you want to be Lord Mayor,

Surely, just as in that other London all you'll need do is

a) Be a British, Commonwealth, or EU citizen, who has

b) lived in the city for a year, and who

c) wins the election

Right?  No, in The City of London, that's not nearly enough.  Ready for the qualifications list?

Before you even run for Lord Mayor you need have been a Sheriff of The City of London.

But before you can be Sheriff, you need to be an Aldermen.

What's an Aldermen?  Well, the City of London is divided into 25 wards, and each Ward elects one Aldermen to represent it on the Court of Aldermen -- a sub-section of the common council.

Before you can run for Alderman, you need to gain Freeman Status... and who gives out freeman status?  Why none other than the very Court of Aldermen you're trying to get elected to.

Which might just seem like a conflict of interest.  Luckily there is another way to get the freeman status -- join one of the City's Guilds -- sadly, they aren't called guilds, they're called Livery Companies (a name which is both more boring and less descriptive), but the remnants of medieval guilds many of them are and within the City there are 108 of them to choose from including, but not limited to,

The Apothecaries

The Fishmongers

The Masons

The Mercers

The Scientific Instrument Makers

The Bankers

The Shipwrights

The Wheelwrights

The Butchers,

The bakers,

Two different candlestick makers,

and the most exciting of all: The Chartered Accountants!

Many of these guilds, like the Fletchers, have become charities, but some are still active, such as the Goldsmiths who test the quality of British coinage and the Hackney carriage drivers who license taxi drivers.

To join one of these guilds you'll either need to meet the professional requirements, or for the charities like the Haberdashers you'll need the approval of two existing members, others won't tell you how to become a members.

If, you meet none of the Livery Companies membership requirements, but you think you'll be a clever clogs and start your own Livery Company and grant yourself freeman status, tough luck because new Livery Companies need to be approved by, you guessed it, the Court of Aldermen.

But let's assume one way or another you get the official freeman status certificate, now you can finally run for Aldermen of a Ward -- after the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee also approves of you.

But, that small barrier passed, you can win election as Aldermen in either one of the 4 wards where people live or the 21 wards where companies live.

Once on the court of aldermen to continue your path to the Mayor's Office in Guildhall, you must now be elected as sheriff, but this time it's the members of the Livery Companies who pick the sheriffs.

So if the Livery Company members elect you as Sheriff, after you have successfully completed your term then you can finally run for Mayor.

But, surprisingly the, residents of the City of London don't vote for the Mayor, our old friends on the Court of Aldermen do.

So in summary, once you get freeman status from either the court of aldermen or the livery companies and after your ward elected you as alderman and then the livery companies elect you as sheriff and after your term as sheriff ends but while you're still on the court of aldermen then you can run for Mayor.

And -- assuming the other aldermen select you, finally take your place as The Right Honorable, The Lord Mayor of London -- for one year, with no salary.  And you have to cover your own expenses, which will be quite considerable as your new job consists mostly of making hundreds of speeches a year around the world promoting city business.

But you do get that fancy hat, which just might make it all worth while.

Special Thanks

Econe Fine Jewelry, for the use of  their image of the Freeman of the City certificate and to the Museum of London and Michael Warnken.

Selected Sources

Credits

amplifieduk, louisephotography, herry, damo1977, g4egk, shelleylou2000, stewc, Sam Winters, Econe Fine Jewellery, idleformat, richardfisher, neutronboy, kachkaev, Diliff

The (Secret) City of London

Script

The Great City of London, known for its historical landmarks, modern skyscrapers, ancient markets and famous bridges.  It's arguably the financial capital of the world and home to over eleven thousand people.

Wait, what?  Eleven... thousand?

That's right: but the City of London is a different place from London -- though London is also known for its historical landmarks, modern skyscrapers, ancient markets, famous bridges and is home to the government, royal family and seven million people.

But, if you look map of London crafted by a careful cartographer that map will have a one-square mile hole near the middle -- it's here where the City of London lives inside of the city named London.

Despite these confusingly close names the two Londons have separate city halls and elect separate mayors, who collect separate taxes to fund separate police who enforce separate laws.

The Mayor of the City of London has a fancy title 'The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of London' to match his fancy outfit.  He also gets to ride in a golden carriage and work in a Guildhall while the mayor of London has to wear a suit, ride a bike and work in an office building.

The City of London also has its own flag and its own crest which is awesome and makes London's lack of either twice as sad.

To top it off the City of London gets to act more like one of the countries in the UK than just an oddly located city -- for uniquely the corporation that runs the city of London is older than the United Kingdom by several hundred years.

So how did the UK end up with two Londons, one inside of the other?  Because: Romans.

2,000 years ago they came to Great Britain, killed a bunch of druids, and founded a trading post on the River Thames and named it Londonimium.  Being Romans they got to work doing what Romans do: enforcing laws, increasing trade, building temples, public baths, roads, bridges and a wall to defend their work.

And it's this wall which is why the current City of London exists -- for though the Romans came and the Romans went and kingdoms rose and kingdoms fell, the wall endured protecting the city within.  And The City, governing itself and trading with the world, grew rich.

A thousand years after the Romans (yet still a thousand years ago) when William the Conqueror came to Great Britain to conqueror everything and begin modern british history he found the City of London, with its sturdy walls more challenging to defeat than farmers on open fields.

So he agreed to recognize the rights and privileges City of Londoners were used to in return for the them recognizing him as the new King.

Though after the negotiation, William quickly built towers around the City of London which were just as much about protecting William from the locals within as defending against the Vikings from without.

This started a thousand-year long tradition whereby Monarchs always reconfirmed that 'yes' the City of London is a special, unique place best left to its own business, while simultaneously distrusting it.

Many a monarch thought the City of London was too powerful and rich.  And one even built a new Capital city nearby, named Westminster, to compete with the City of London and hopefully, suck power and wealth away from it.  This was the start of the second London.

As the centuries passed, Westminster grew and merged with nearby towns eventually surrounding the walled-in, and still separate City of London.  But, people began to call the whole urban collection 'London' and the name became official when Parliament joined towns together under a single municipal government with a mayor.

But, the mayor of London still doesn't have power over the tiny City of London which has rules and traditions like nowhere else in the country and possibly the world.

For example, the ruling monarch doesn't just enter the City of London on a whim, but instead asks for permission from the Lord Mayor at a ceremony.  While it's not required by law, the ceremony is, unusual to say the least.

The City of London also has a representative in Parliament, The Remembrancer, whose job it is to protects the City's special rights.

Because of this, laws passed by Parliament sometimes don't apply to the City of London: most notably voting reforms, which we'll discuss next time.  But if you're curious, unlike anywhere else in the UK elections in the City of London involve Medieval Guilds and modern companies.

Finally, the City of London also owns and operates land and buildings far outside its border, making it quite wealthy.

Once you start looking for The City's Crest you'll find it in lots of places, but most notably on Tower Bridge which, while being in London is operated by City of London,

These crests everywhere when combined with the City of London's age and wealth and quazi-independent status make it an irresistible temptation for conspiracy nuts.  Add in the oldest Masonic temple and it's not long before the crazy part of the Internet yelling about secret societies controlling the world via the finance industry from inside the City-state of London.  (And don't forget the reptilian alien Queen who's really behind it all.)

But conspiracy theories aside, the City of London is not an independent nation like the Vatican is, no matter how much you might read it on the Internet, rather it's a unique place in the United Kingdom with a long and complicated history.

The wall that began all this 2,000 years ago is now mostly gone -- so the border between London and its secret inner city isn't so obvious.  Though, next time you're in London, if you come across a small dragon on the street, he still guards the entrance to the city in a city in a country in a country.

Notes & Corrections:

Credits:

transtek, stuart-lee, neonbubble, photogentic, neutronboy, anirudhkoul, timfrostuk, William Hall, mcgraths, Arpad Lukacs Photography, brostad, grana71, thetravelguru, pikous, herry, nanagyei, elias_daniel, Diliff, stewdean, Fremantleboy, dickpenn, fgr1986, malcnhg, aroberts, celesteh, mein-halle, raidy, edwin11, idleformat, asw909,  londonmatt.

Special Thanks:

WearScience.com for the reptile Queen image.  Go buy their great shirts & Michael Warnken.