In a previous post, we briefly discussed the question of whether the Vice-President could vote in the Senate in the event of an electoral college tie followed by a tie vote in the Senate to elect his successor under the 12th Amendment. Over at Balkinization, Professor Gerard Magliocca asks the same question.
My view, which I sketched out more in comments to Magliocca’s post, is that the 12th amendment does not permit the Vice-President to vote for three reasons. First, as a textual matter, the VP’s vote wouldn’t give the winner a “majority of the whole number.” The 12th amendment says that, if no one receives an electoral college majority for Vice-President, “the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.” The Vice-President is not a Senator and therefore not part of the “whole number;” thus, his vote would seem irrelevant to obtaining the necessary majority.
Second, to the extent that the 12th amendment is ambiguous on this point, there are strong reasons not to interpret it as authorizing the VP to vote. At the time the 12th amendment was adopted, it was not yet established that the VP could vote on matters beyond ordinary legislation. Moreover, it seems unlikely that the framers of the 12th amendment would have intended the VP to vote in an election in which he would so often be an interested party (just as members, at least in the House, are not supposed to vote on matters relating to their own seats). Thus, the 12th amendment’s silence should not be taken as an implicit authorization for the VP to vote.
Third, Article I prohibits the Vice-President from voting unless the Senate is “equally divided.” Thus, if one Senator did not vote, resulting in a 50-49 vote, the VP could not vote, yet there would not be the necessary majority to make a choice.
I think these arguments are pretty strong. (This blog, although written by a non-lawyer, makes a similar case). It does not seem Professors Magliocca or Sandy Levinson are persuaded, but Professor Michael Ramsey is.
If others in the law professoriate weigh in, let me know in the comments.