Sec. 3 . Election
Speaker Chosen from Members
Article I, section 2 of the Constitution directs that the House
choose its Speaker and other officers. The Speaker is the only House
officer who traditionally has been chosen from the sitting membership
of the House. Manual Sec. 26. The Constitution does not limit his
selection from among that class, but the practice has been followed
invariably. The Speaker's term of office thus expires at the end of
his term of office as a Member, whereas the other House officers
continue in office ``until their successors are chosen and
qualified.'' Rule II clause 1; 1 Hinds Sec. 187.
Nomination and Vote
The general practice for election of Speaker begins with
nominations from each party caucus followed by a viva voce vote of the
Members-elect. Relying on the Act of June 1, 1789, the Clerk
recognized for nominations for Speaker as being of higher
constitutional privilege than a resolution to postpone the election of
a Speaker and instead provide for the election of
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a Speaker pro tempore pending the disposition of certain ethics
charges against the nominee of the majority party. 2 USC Sec. 25;
Manual Sec. 27.
Under the modern practice, the Speaker is elected by a majority of
Members-elect voting by surname, a quorum being present. Manual
Sec. 27; 1 Hinds Sec. 216; 6 Cannon Sec. 24. The Clerk appoints
tellers for this election. However, the House, and not the Clerk,
decides by what method it shall elect. 1 Hinds Sec. 210. For former
practices relating to the election of the Speaker, see Manual Sec. 27;
1 Hinds Sec. Sec. 212, 214, 218; 8 Cannon Sec. 3883.
I
n two instances the House agreed to choose and subsequently did
choose a Speaker by a plurality of votes but confirmed the choice by
majority vote. In 1849 the House had been in session 19 days without
being able to elect a Speaker, no candidate having received a majority
of the votes cast. The voting was viva voce, each Member responding to
the call of the roll by naming the candidate for whom he voted.
Finally, after the fifty-ninth ballot, the House adopted a resolution
declaring that a Speaker could be elected by a plurality. 1 Hinds
Sec. 221. In 1856 the House again struggled over the election of a
Speaker. Ballots numbering 129 had been taken without any candidate
receiving a majority of the votes cast. The House then adopted a
resolution permitting the election to be decided by a plurality. 1
Hinds Sec. 222. On both of these occasions, the House ratified the
plurality election by a majority vote.https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-108/html/GPO-HPRACTICE-108-35.htm
