text: The second virus causing the electoral college to convulse and bite its tongue in half is what happens in the event of a tie. If this is to occurr, then state delegates in the House of Represenatatives decide the President (Source 2). Each state only casts one vote, so the representative from Rhode Island would have just as much to say as the 55 representatives from the state of California (Source 1 and 2). Not only that, but a majority of people vote one party for president and another for Congress (Source 3). There are 538 possible votes in the electoral college (Source 1), so it isn't impossible for a tie to happen. In 1976, if 5,559 voters from Ohio and 3,687 voters in Hawaii had switched candidates, there would have been a tie (Source 2).