The Electoral College is the friend of every elected president. Each candidate strives for 270 out of the 538 available electoral votes. The amount each state has to give is determined by the two senators plus the number of House members. In the case of Illinois, that equates to 20 votes.

It is mainly because of the Electoral College that swing states exist. The election comes down to a few key states instead of who is the more popular candidate among the entire country. Illinois is generally a blue state — hence a lack of presidential campaigning here, while states like Ohio and Florida find campaigning to be commonplace.

But what happens if the candidates fall short of the coveted 270 votes? What if they for instance, tie at 269 votes? Then it becomes Congress’s turn to pick the president.

What does that mean for Americans? Romney-Biden 2012.

No, this is not some sort of mistake. This is possible — highly unlikely — but still very possible.

In the case that the Electoral College fails to elect a president, the House steps up to the plate and elects the president. Then, to balance power, the Senate elects the vice president. All thanks to the 12th amendment to the Constitution.

And yes, there have been instances where the vote has fallen upon Congress before — just not recently.

So why would this equate to Romney-Biden? Currently, Congress is split. The House is controlled by the Republicans and the Senate is controlled by the Democrats. If today, everyone were to vote along party lines, Gov. Romney would take the House and Vice President Biden would take the Senate. Even if there was a tie in the Senate, a 50-50 split, the president of the senate gets the final say. And who has that honor? The current vice president.

But those currently in Congress are not the ones who would be able to vote. That honor would fall upon the 113th United States Congress which meets in January 2013. And with just how close some Congressional races are, this could equate to a flip in either the House or the Senate. Or both.

So yes, don’t worry. Obama-Ryan is also a possibility.

So why should you care about this? Because, in this hypothetical case, who we vote for in our local elections this year can play a larger role than ever before.

Imagine waking up on the morning of the first meeting of the 113th Congressional session. The first vote on the table: Vote for the next president of the United States. Madness would ensue. Whoever has a majority will win the vote because it would most likely follow party lines. Not to would be seen as outrage to each party. This makes voting in local elections even more important.

Races like Illinois’ 13th (which includes Champaign-Urbana) or 10th Congressional districts could help flip the House to Democratic control. And on the flip side, close races like Nevada could flip the Democrat-controlled Senate red.

This then causes people to once again question: Should we get rid of the Electoral College? A survey conducted by Gallup in 2011 seems to indicate that many Americans think we should. With most Americans against the system, why is it still in place? Why has it not been at least altered?

Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) has proposed an interesting amendment to the constitution. What if the candidate who won the popular vote were to automatically gain 29 electoral votes? The number is not exactly arbitrary. It is the average number of electoral votes given to the most populous state, California at 55 and the minimum amount of votes a state can have, three.

A change like this might end the disfranchisement of non-swing states. People might feel the need to vote more because they will feel their vote means more. That just may drive up voter participation — something this country desperately needs. But, that might lead to even more expensive campaigns and candidates clearly trying to buy votes. I am sure that would go over splendidly.

If this election is as close as the national polls and media suggest, we just may end up with a Romney-Biden administration. And then, no one wins — except that just might kick-start a change in the Electoral College. Because if that doesn’t do it, nothing probably will.

Joanna is a senior in LAS. She can be reached at [email protected].