If control of the House is close, Jan. 3 could be chaos
WASHINGTON — Consider the following scenario: Following a contentious midterm election, the House gathers on the first day of the new Congress to organize itself. With an unpopular Democrat in the White House, the party appears to have lost its House majority. But something’s amiss.
In one state, it looks like the Democrats lost five tight races, but there are reports that votes from entire towns were never counted. Despite the irregularities, though, the governor certified the results, which would have tipped control of the House to his party … except the House clerk, picked by the Democrats in the lame duck, refuses to recognize the five disputed representatives-elect. And that tips the balance in the House back to the Democrats. Chaos ensues.
