“Mountain Time Zone” Strategy for a Third Party Presidency: As previously reported, a conservative third party candidate running only in select Mountain Time Zone states would represent an “insurance policy” against Donald J. Trump winning the Presidency in an otherwise close race.
For example, if Mitt Romney ran (and won) in only a couple of very solid “red” states, he would gain the Electoral College votes that might otherwise have gone to Mr. Trump, and which could make Mr. Trump merely a plurality winner (under this scenario), which automatically moves the game to the House of Representatives to elect the President.
As each state delegation in the House has one vote in such a Presidential election, a conservative third party candidate may well win the majority of state delegations in this solidly Republican body.
(This “insurance policy” would be unnecessary if Mrs. Clinton receives a majority vote in the Electoral College, which would end the matter.)
What Happens with the 3rd Party VP Candidate in the Senate Election? If there is no majority winner in the Electoral College for President (as above), there also, of course, would be no majority Electoral College winner for Vice-President. Then, the Senate would elect the Vice-President (one vote per Senator). But, only the top two candidates are eligible which would surely eliminate the third party candidate from the “ballot” in the Senate.
If you Don’t Like this System… Change the Constitution: One could conceivably think of a better way to deal with a Presidential and Vice-Presidential races without a majority winner of the Electoral College. That’s pie in the sky, because the system described, here, is straight from the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Regards,
Hal