UNITED STATES CODE
Provisions Relating to the Electoral College
 

                           The following provisions of law governing Presidential Elections are contained in
                           Chapter 1 of Title 3, United States Code (62 Stat. 672, as amended):

                           TITLE 3 THE PRESIDENT

                           Chapter 1. Presidential Elections and Vacancies

                           Section
                           1. Time of appointing electors.
                           2. Failure to make choice on prescribed day.
                           3. Number of electors.
                           4. Vacancies in electoral college.
                           5. Determination of controversy as to appointment of electors.
                           6. Credentials of electors; transmission to Archivist of the United States and to
                           Congress; public inspection.
                           7. Meeting and vote of electors.
                           8. Manner of voting.
                           9. Certificates of votes for President and Vice President.
                           10. Sealing and endorsing certificates.
                           11. Disposition of certificates.
                           12. Failure of certificates of electors to reach President of the Senate or Archivist
                           of the United States; demand on State for certificate.
                           13. Same; demand on district judge for certificate.
                           14. Forfeiture for messenger's neglect of duty.
                           15. Counting electoral votes in Congress.
                           16. Same; seats for officers and Members of two Houses in joint meeting.
                           17. Same; limit of debate in each House.
                           18. Same; parliamentary procedure at joint meeting.
                           19. Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to
                           act.
                           20. Resignation or refusal of office.
                           21. Definitions.

                                        Chapter 1. Presidential Elections and Vacancies

                                                Time of appointing electors

                           | 3 USC Ch. 1, Table of Contents |

                           § 1. The electors of President and Vice President shall be appointed, in each
                           State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth
                           year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President.

                                          Failure to make choice on prescribed day

                           § 2. Whenever any State has held an election for the purpose of choosing
                           electors, and has failed to make a choice on the day prescribed by law, the
                           electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as the legislature
                           of such State may direct.

                                                   Number of electors

                           § 3. The number of electors shall be equal to the number of Senators and
                           Representatives to which the several States are by law entitled at the time when
                           the President and Vice President to be chosen come into office; except, that
                           where no apportionment of Representatives has been made after any enumeration,
                           at the time of choosing electors, the number of electors shall be according to the
                           then existing apportionment of Senators and Representatives.

                                               Vacancies in electoral college

                           § 4. Each State may, by law, provide for the filling of any vacancies which may
                           occur in its college of electors when such college meets to give its electoral vote.

                                    Determination of controversy as to appointment of electors

                           § 5. If any State shall have provided, by laws enacted prior to the day fixed for
                           the appointment of the electors, for its final determination of any controversy or
                           contest concerning the appointment of all or any of the electors of such State, by
                           judicial or other methods or procedures, and such determination shall have been
                           made at least six days before the time fixed for the meeting of the electors, such
                           determination made pursuant to such law so existing on said day, and made at
                           least six days prior to said time of meeting of the electors, shall be conclusive, and
                           shall govern in the counting of the electoral votes as provided in the Constitution,
                           and as hereinafter regulated, so far as the ascertainment of the electors appointed
                           by such State is concerned.

                              Credentials of electors; transmission to Archivist of the United States and to
                                                Congress; public inspection

                           § 6. It shall be the duty of the executive of each State, as soon as practicable after
                           the conclusion of the appointment of the electors in such State by the final
                           ascertainment, under and in pursuance of the laws of such State providing for such
                           ascertainment, to communicate by registered mail under the seal of the State to the
                           Archivist of the United States a certificate of such ascertainment of the electors
                           appointed, setting forth the names of such electors and the canvass or other
                           ascertainment under the laws of such State of the number of votes given or cast
                           for each person for whose appointment any and all votes have been given or cast;
                           and it shall also thereupon be the duty of the executive of each State to deliver to
                           the electors of such State, on or before the day on which they are required by
                           section 7 of this title to meet, six duplicate-originals of the same certificate under
                           the seal of the State; and if there shall have been any final determination in a State
                           in the manner provided for by law of a controversy or contest concerning the
                           appointment of all or any of the electors of such State, it shall be the duty of the
                           executive of such State, as soon as practicable after such determination, to
                           communicate under the seal of the State to the Archivist of the United States a
                           certificate of such determination in form and manner as the same shall have been
                           made; and the certificate or certificates so received by the Archivist of the United
                           States shall be preserved by him for one year and shall be a part of the public
                           records of his office and shall be open to public inspection; and the Archivist of
                           the United States at the first meeting of Congress thereafter shall transmit to the
                           two Houses of Congress copies in full of each and every such certificate so
                           received at the National Archives and Records Administration.

                                               Meeting and vote of electors

                           § 7. The electors of President and Vice President of each State shall meet and
                           give their votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December
                           next following their appointment at such place in each State as the legislature of
                           such State shall direct.

                                                    Manner of voting

                           § 8. The electors shall vote for President and Vice President, respectively, in the
                           manner directed by the Constitution.

                                      Certificates of votes for president and vice president

                           § 9. The electors shall make and sign six certificates of all the votes given by them,
                           each of which certificates shall contain two distinct lists, one of the votes for
                           President and the other of the votes for Vice President, and shall annex to each of
                           the certificates one of the lists of the electors which shall have been furnished to
                           them by direction of the executive of the State.

                                              Sealing and endorsing certificates

                           § 10. The electors shall seal up the certificates so made by them, and certify upon
                           each that the lists of all the votes of such State given for President, and of all the
                           votes given for Vice President, are contained therein.

                                                 Disposition of certificates

                           | 3 USC Ch. 1, Table of Contents |

                           § 11. The electors shall dispose of the certificates so made by them and the lists
                           attached thereto in the following manner:
                           First. They shall forthwith forward by registered mail one of the same to the
                           President of the Senate at the seat of government.
                           Second. Two of the same shall be delivered to the secretary of state of the State,
                           one of which shall be held subject to the order of the President of the Senate, the
                           other to be preserved by him for one year and shall be a part of the public records
                           of his office and shall be open to public inspection.
                           Third. On the day thereafter they shall forward by registered mail two of such
                           certificates and lists to the Archivist of the United States at the seat of government,
                           one of which shall be held subject to the order of the President of the Senate. The
                           other shall be preserved by the Archivist of the United States for one year and
                           shall be a part of the public records of his office and shall be open to public
                           inspection.
                           Fourth. They shall forthwith cause the other of the certificates and lists to be
                           delivered to the judge of the district in which the electors shall have assembled.

                           Failure of certificates of electors to reach President of the Senate or Archivist of the
                                         United States; demand on state for certificate

                           § 12. When no certificate of vote and list mentioned in sections 9 and 11 and of
                           this title from any State shall have been received by the President of the Senate or
                           by the Archivist of the United States by the fourth Wednesday in December, after
                           the meeting of the electors shall have been held, the President of the Senate or, if
                           he be absent from the seat of government, the Archivist of the United States shall
                           request, by the most expeditious method available, the secretary of state of the
                           State to send up the certificate and list lodged with him by the electors of such
                           State; and it shall be his duty upon receipt of such request immediately to transmit
                           same by registered mail to the President of the Senate at the seat of government.

                                         Same; demand on district judge for certificate

                           § 13. When no certificates of votes from any State shall have been received at the
                           seat of government on the fourth Wednesday in December, after the meeting of
                           the electors shall have been held, the President of the Senate or, if he be absent
                           from the seat of government, the Archivist of the United States shall send a special
                           messenger to the district judge in whose custody one certificate of votes from that
                           State has been lodged, and such judge shall forthwith transmit that list by the hand
                           of such messenger to the seat of government.

                                          Forfeiture for messenger's neglect of duty

                           § 14. Every person who, having been appointed, pursuant to section 13 of this
                           title, to deliver the certificates of the votes of the electors to the President of the
                           Senate, and having accepted such appointment, shall neglect to perform the
                           services required from him, shall forfeit the sum of $1,000.

                                            Counting electoral votes in Congress

                           § 15. Congress shall be in session on the sixth day of January succeeding every
                           meeting of the electors. The Senate and House of Representatives shall meet in
                           the Hall of the House of Representatives at the hour of 1 o'clock in the afternoon
                           on that day, and the President of the Senate shall be their presiding officer. Two
                           tellers shall be previously appointed on the part of the Senate and two on the part
                           of the House of Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by
                           the President of the Senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to be
                           certificates of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers shall be opened,
                           presented, and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the States, beginning with
                           the letter A; and said tellers, having then read the same in the presence and
                           hearing of the two Houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall appear from
                           the said certificates; and the votes having been ascertained and counted according
                           to the rules in this subchapter provided, the result of the same shall be delivered to
                           the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce the state of the vote,
                           which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if
                           any, elected President and Vice President of the United States, and, together with
                           a list of the votes, be entered on the Journals of the two Houses. Upon such
                           reading of any such certificate or paper, the President of the Senate shall call for
                           objections, if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly
                           and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by at
                           least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the
                           same shall be received. When all objections so made to any vote or paper from a
                           State shall have been received and read, the Senate shall thereupon withdraw, and
                           such objections shall be submitted to the Senate for its decision; and the Speaker
                           of the House of Representatives shall, in like manner, submit such objections to
                           the House of Representatives for its decision; and no electoral vote or votes from
                           any State which shall have been regularly given by electors whose appointment
                           has been lawfully certified to according to section 6 of this title from which but one
                           return has been received shall be rejected, but the two Houses concurrently may
                           reject the vote or votes when they agree that such vote or votes have not been so
                           regularly given by electors whose appointment has been so certified. If more than
                           one return or paper purporting to be a return from a State shall have been
                           received by the President of the Senate, those votes, and those only, shall be
                           counted which shall have been regularly given by the electors who are shown by
                           the determination mentioned in section 5 of this title to have been appointed, if the
                           determination in said section provided for shall have been made, or by such
                           successors or substitutes, in case of a vacancy in the board of electors so
                           ascertained, as have been appointed to fill such vacancy in the mode provided by
                           the laws of the State; but in case there shall arise the question which of two or
                           more of such State authorities determining what electors have been appointed, as
                           mentioned in section 5 of this title, is the lawful tribunal of such State, the votes
                           regularly given of those electors, and those only, of such State shall be counted
                           whose title as electors the two Houses, acting separately, shall concurrently
                           decide is supported by the decision of such State so authorized by its law; and in
                           such case of more than one return or paper purporting to be a return from a State,
                           if there shall have been no such determination of the question in the State
                           aforesaid, then those votes, and those only, shall be counted which the two
                           Houses shall concurrently decide were cast by lawful electors appointed in
                           accordance with the laws of the State, unless the two Houses, acting separately,
                           shall concurrently decide such votes not to be the lawful votes of the legally
                           appointed electors of such State. But if the two Houses shall disagree in respect of
                           the counting of such votes, then, and in that case, the votes of the electors whose
                           appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the State, under the seal
                           thereof, shall be counted. When the two Houses have voted, they shall
                           immediately again meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce the decision
                           of the questions submitted. No votes or papers from any other State shall be
                           acted upon until the objections previously made to the votes or papers from any
                           State shall have been finally disposed of.

                                Same; seats for officers and members of two houses in joint meeting

                           § 16. At such joint meeting of the two Houses seats shall be provided as follows:
                           For the President of the Senate, the Speaker's chair; for the Speaker, immediately
                           upon his left; the Senators, in the body of the Hall upon the right of the presiding
                           officer; for the Representatives, in the body of the Hall not provided for the
                           Senators; for the tellers, Secretary of the Senate, and Clerk of the House of
                           Representatives, at the Clerk's desk; for the other officers of the two Houses, in
                           front of the Clerk's desk and upon each side of the Speaker's platform. Such joint
                           meeting shall not be dissolved until the count of electoral votes shall be completed
                           and the result declared; and no recess shall be taken unless a question shall have
                           arisen in regard to counting any such votes, or otherwise under this subchapter, in
                           which case it shall be competent for either House, acting separately, in the manner
                           hereinbefore provided, to direct a recess of such House not beyond the next
                           calendar day, Sunday excepted, at the hour of 10 o'clock in the forenoon. But if
                           the counting of the electoral votes and the declaration of the result shall not have
                           been completed before the fifth calendar day next after such first meeting of the
                           two Houses, no further or other recess shall be taken by either House.

                                             Same; limit of debate in each house

                           § 17. When the two Houses separate to decide upon an objection that may have
                           been made to the counting of any electoral vote or votes from any State, or other
                           question arising in the matter, each Senator and Representative may speak to such
                           objection or question five minutes, and not more than once; but after such debate
                           shall have lasted two hours it shall be the duty of the presiding officer of each
                           House to put the main question without further debate.

                                        Same; parliamentary procedure at joint meeting

                           § 18. While the two Houses shall be in meeting as provided in this chapter, the
                           President of the Senate shall have power to preserve order; and no debate shall
                           be allowed and no question shall be put by the presiding officer except to either
                           House on a motion to withdraw.

                             Vacancy in offices of both president and vice president; officers eligible to act

                           § 19. (a) (1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or
                           failure to qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice President to discharge the
                           powers and duties of the office of President, then the Speaker of the House of
                           Representatives shall, upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in
                           Congress, act as President.
                           (2) The same rule shall apply in the case of the death, resignation, removal from
                           office, or inability of an individual acting as President under this subsection.
                           (b) If, at the time when under subsection (a) of this section a Speaker is to begin
                           the discharge of the powers and duties of the office of President, there is no
                           Speaker, or the Speaker fails to qualify as Acting President, then the President
                           pro tempore of the Senate shall, upon his resignation as President pro tempore
                           and as Senator, act as President.
                           (c) An individual acting as President under subsection (a) or subsection (b) of this
                           section shall continue to act until the expiration of the then current Presidential
                           term, except that
                           (1) if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is founded in whole or in
                           part on the failure of both the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect to
                           qualify, then he shall act only until a President or Vice President qualifies; and
                           (2) if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is founded in whole or in
                           part on the inability of the President or Vice President, then he shall act only until
                           the removal of the disability of one of such individuals.
                           (d) (1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure
                           to qualify, there is no President pro tempore to act as President under subsection
                           (b) of this section, then the officer of the United States who is highest on the
                           following list, and who is not under disability to discharge the powers and duties of
                           the office of President shall act as President: Secretary of State, Secretary of the
                           Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior,
                           Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary
                           of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,
                           Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education,
                           Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
                           (2) An individual acting as President under this subsection shall continue so to do
                           until the expiration of the then current Presidential term, but not after a qualified
                           and prior-entitled individual is able to act, except that the removal of the disability
                           of an individual higher on the list contained in paragraph (1) of this subsection or
                           the ability to qualify on the part of an individual higher on such list shall not
                           terminate his service.
                           (3) The taking of the oath of office by an individual specified in the list in
                           paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be held to constitute his resignation from the
                           office by virtue of the holding of which he qualifies to act as President.
                           (e) Subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section shall apply only to such officers as
                           are eligible to the office of President under the Constitution. Subsection (d) of this
                           section shall apply only to officers appointed, by and with the advice and consent
                           of the Senate, prior to the time of the death, resignation, removal from office,
                           inability, or failure to qualify, of the President pro tempore, and only to officers not
                           under impeachment by the House of Representatives at the time the powers and
                           duties of the office of President devolve upon them.
                           (f) During the period that any individual acts as President under this section, his
                           compensation shall be at the rate then provided by law in the case of the
                           President.

                                               Resignation or refusal of office

                           § 20. The only evidence of a refusal to accept, or of a resignation of the office of
                           President or Vice President, shall be an instrument in writing, declaring the same,
                           and subscribed by the person refusing to accept or resigning, as the case may be,
                           and delivered into the office of the Secretary of State.

                                                      Definitions

                           § 21. As used in this chapter the term -
                           (a) "State" includes the District of Columbia.
                           (b) "executives of each State" includes the Board of Commissioners * of the
                           District of Columbia.

                           * The functions of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia are
                           now performed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia. (Reorganization Plan
                           No. 3 of 1967, Section 401, 81 Stat. 948: Pub. L. 93-198, Sections 422 and
                           711, 87 Stat. 790, 818.)

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