Fact Check: Constitution Doesn't Allow President and VP From the Same State?

Claim:

The U.S. Constitution does not allow a president and vice president to be from the same state.

Rating:

False ( About this rating? )

Context:

While the Constitution does not prohibit a single-state ticket, a provision in the 12th Amendment incentivizes presidential and vice presidential candidates from two different states.

In the aftermath of U.S. President Joe Biden withdrawing from the 2024 U.S. presidential election and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in his place, users across social media began theorizing who would join her on the Democratic ticket. Among the many names thrown out was California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

However, some users raised concerns about whether a Harris-Newsom ticket would be allowed under the U.S. Constitution, since both Harris and Newsom are residents of the same state, California.

(X user @RonSupportsYou)

A potential Harris-Newsom ticket would be constitutional , contrary to what people expressed on social media. In other words, nothing in the U.S. Constitution prohibits a political party from nominating presidential and vice presidential candidates from the same state.

However, such a single-state ticket would be unprecedented. By examining records of past elections in the National Archives , we found that n o major party in the history of the United States has ever nominated a presidential and vice presidential candidate from the same state.

And that's likely for good reason. There are many political benefits to offering a ticket with two candidates from different states, including the higher likelihood of catering to a wider voting demographic.

In addition to that, a provision in the 12th Amendment incentivizes presidential and vice presidential candidates from two different states, and a ticket with two candidates from the same state could create a strange scenario in a close election.

Under the Constitution's guidelines, the "true" presidential election is held by the 538 electors of the Electoral College . Each state (and Washington, D.C. ) appoints a number of electors equal to their number of Congressional members. For example, New York currently has 26 House representatives and two senators, giving the state a total of 28 Electoral College votes.

Per the National Archives , political parties in each state choose a slate of electors to represent their tickets. Then, during the November general election, in most states, the popular vote decides which party sends its electors to vote in the Electoral College. Or, in Maine and Nebraska's case, electors are allocated based on both the popular vote and voting outcomes in each Congressional district.

Every four years after a November general election, the 538 electors gather and cast votes for president and vice president according to rules outlined in the 12th Amendment , which was added to the Constitution in 1804. Each elector casts one vote for president and one vote for vice president on separate ballots.

If a presidential or vice presidential candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College, that person is elected to that office. If no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives holds votes to decide the presidency, while the Senate votes on the vice president.

But the 12th Amendment does place one restriction on how the electors are allowed to vote : They must vote for at least one candidate from a state other than their own. For instance, an elector from New York could successfully vote for a hypothetical, all-Virginia ticket of George Washington for president and Thomas Jefferson for vice president. However, an elector from Virginia could not cast the same ballot: That person could vote for either Washington or Jefferson, but would have to cast their other vote for a non-Virginian.

This brings us back to a potential Harris-Newsom ticket.

Since they are both officially registered as candidates from the state of California, California's 54 electors would not be able to vote for the full ticket. They would have to vote for either Harris as president or Newsom as vice president — but not both. Since votes for president and vice president are tabulated separately, this could lead to a situation where a presidential nominee from one party and a vice presidential nominee from another party win.

So, while there's no explicit ban in the Constitution preventing a party from running a single-state ticket, the 12th Amendment lowers such a ticket's chance at success. In order to successfully run a single-state ticket, the political party in question would need to either win the election in a landslide, giving it an Electoral College majority vote despite effectively forfeiting the candidates' home state's Electoral College votes, or risk the Senate deciding on vice president.

These complications are likely why a major party has never attempted to run a single-state ticket in a presidential election, especially given close presidential races in recent years.

According to History.com , the 2000 presidential election won by Republican George W. Bush had a chance at ending differently due this provision in the 12th Amendment. Shortly before the election, Bush and his vice presidential candidate, D*ck Cheney, were both residents of Texas, worth 32 Electoral College votes. But, to avoid any issues due to the 12th Amendment's ban on electors voting for more than one candidate from their home states, Cheney moved his residency back to Wyoming. He formerly represented that state in Congress.

If Cheney would have kept his home registration in Texas — thus, preventing 32 electors from voting for both Bush and Cheney — Bush's vice president could have theoretically ended up being Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman. The election was decided by just five electoral votes.

Sources:

Baltimore, University of Maryland. "Answers to Your Questions." University of Maryland, Baltimore , https://www.umaryland.edu/lifelong-learning/constitution/answers/response/?queid=398&expertid=&assignid=1&uuid=59134E80-5056-A164-33243C0D77DD88CE. Accessed 23 July 2024. "Can the President and Vice President Be From the Same State?" HISTORY , 22 Jan. 2024, https://www.history.com/news/can-the-president-and-vice-president-be-from-the-same-state. "Constitutional Amendments – Amendment 12 – 'Electing the President and Vice President.'" Ronald Reagan , https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/constitutional-amendments-amendment-12-electing-president-and-vice-president. Accessed 23 July 2024. "Distribution of Electoral Votes." National Archives , 19 Sept. 2019, https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/allocation. United States Presidential Election of 1800 | Candidates, Significance, & Results | Britannica . 12 June 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1800. U.S. Senate: Constitution of the United States . https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/constitution.htm#a1_sec10. Accessed 23 July 2024.