If there was a 269-269 tie and the vote went to the house...

[LabourJersey]

In a 269-269 electoral tie, one elector would defect to the national popular vote winner to give him/her a majority when the electoral college convenes.

You really think so? These electors are picked by their party.

I'm struggling to imagine a GOP elector choosing to vote for the Democratic nominee if the Dems were to win the popular vote. And imagining a Democratic elector voting for Trump is almost impossible.

[LabourJersey]

In a 269-269 electoral tie, one elector would defect to the national popular vote winner to give him/her a majority when the electoral college convenes.

You really think so? These electors are picked by their party.

I'm struggling to imagine a GOP elector choosing to vote for the Democratic nominee if the Dems were to win the popular vote. And imagining a Democratic elector voting for Trump is almost impossible.

Fitzpatrick in PA maybe. If the Dem is moderate enough.

I meant this in reference to the actual presidential electors, not House members. Though house members in this situation may be a little more pliable

[LabourJersey]

In a 269-269 electoral tie, one elector would defect to the national popular vote winner to give him/her a majority when the electoral college convenes.

You really think so? These electors are picked by their party.

I'm struggling to imagine a GOP elector choosing to vote for the Democratic nominee if the Dems were to win the popular vote. And imagining a Democratic elector voting for Trump is almost impossible.

Clinton lost 5 electors (232 -> 227) and Trump lost 2 (306 -> 304) by the time the EC convened and actually voted - and that wasn't even a situation where a constitutional crisis could unfold. Of course, none of these 7 actually voted for the other major party nominee.

I think the only question in a 269-269 scenario would be whether the defections would benefit either candidate in net terms.

But those faithless electors voted for other candidates. The scenario posed here is an elector voting for the popular vote winner. A Republican elector could potentially vote for a random candidate, but they are not going to cast a ballot for the Democratic nominee (and all the villification from the right that would ensue)