![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Maybe I'm wrong about canon on this, but it occurred to me this morning:
Comics canon says Pete becomes Lex's VP, right? Now, we as a fandom have done a bang-up job of accepting that Lex has to wait (gasp!) until he's thirty-five -- actually, thirty-six given the election cycle -- to become President. You know, so old he's practically geriatric. But, given that Pete also has to meet those requirements, we're actually talking 2024, or 2020 if Pete is older than I think he is, before they can share a ticket.
But the Constitution doesn't just have an age requirement! No, in fact, there's this little matter of the Twelfth Amendment, which states that the electors in the Electoral College can't vote for two guys from the same state as themselves. (It looks as if there's a blanket ban on a same-state ticket, but really it just applies to electors from that same state.) Remember when Cheney had to "move" to Wyoming to circumvent that little rule so he & Bush could get Texas's 32 electoral votes? Kansas only has 6, so it's not a huge deal, though it is something of an embarrassment for a politician to lose his own state, as Gore did.
So the Kansas votes could go to Lex, but not Pete, or vice versa, unless Pete moved. (I'm thinking as between the two of them, it's not Lex who'd get the hell out of Dodge, so to speak.) In a close election, that could make a difference, as indeed it would have in 2000.
As a side note, under Kansas law and that of 23 other states, electors are not actually bound to vote for whoever wins the popular vote in their state. America! What a country!
I've ignored these problems in prior stories, but I pledge to do better in the future.
Thus ends today's civics lesson. Gosh, I wish I could teach a class in fanfic law.
Comics canon says Pete becomes Lex's VP, right? Now, we as a fandom have done a bang-up job of accepting that Lex has to wait (gasp!) until he's thirty-five -- actually, thirty-six given the election cycle -- to become President. You know, so old he's practically geriatric. But, given that Pete also has to meet those requirements, we're actually talking 2024, or 2020 if Pete is older than I think he is, before they can share a ticket.
But the Constitution doesn't just have an age requirement! No, in fact, there's this little matter of the Twelfth Amendment, which states that the electors in the Electoral College can't vote for two guys from the same state as themselves. (It looks as if there's a blanket ban on a same-state ticket, but really it just applies to electors from that same state.) Remember when Cheney had to "move" to Wyoming to circumvent that little rule so he & Bush could get Texas's 32 electoral votes? Kansas only has 6, so it's not a huge deal, though it is something of an embarrassment for a politician to lose his own state, as Gore did.
So the Kansas votes could go to Lex, but not Pete, or vice versa, unless Pete moved. (I'm thinking as between the two of them, it's not Lex who'd get the hell out of Dodge, so to speak.) In a close election, that could make a difference, as indeed it would have in 2000.
As a side note, under Kansas law and that of 23 other states, electors are not actually bound to vote for whoever wins the popular vote in their state. America! What a country!
I've ignored these problems in prior stories, but I pledge to do better in the future.
Thus ends today's civics lesson. Gosh, I wish I could teach a class in fanfic law.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
You know, however, that when Lex is ready to become president, he's going to become president...no matter what. :-) The piddling obstacle of a constitutional amendment isn't going to faze him in the least. Getting it repealed beforehand would be a lovely way to garner the apathetic youth vote...maybe.
Not so sure about the electoral college stuff, but that's hardly imsurmountable stuff. I can't imagine Lex hanging around Smallville once Clark leaves anyway. ;-) I've always wondered just where Metropolis is supposed to be...Kansas doesn't have many port facilities. ;-)
From:
no subject
I'd show up. And take copious notes. And maybe suck up by bringing bagels. ;)?
From: (Anonymous)
Buffy on NPR
Marlene
iwonder
From:
Re: Buffy on NPR