This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Manipulating the U.S. Constitution is a plot feature of Netflix's fifth season of "House of Cards."

The show, binge-watched by millions, also illustrates how entertainment programs fall short in depicting our Constitution accurately.

It's a game of Oval Office musical chairs as power-hungry Frank and Claire Underwood scheme, deceive and murder in Washington, D.C.'s version of "Game of Thrones."

The audience is repeatedly reminded about the 12th Amendment, which governs who becomes president if nobody wins an Electoral College majority. But the TV show adds a nonexistent provision and then ignores the Constitution on another key point.

What "House of Cards" gets right is that if no candidate wins an Electoral College majority:

• The House chooses the president from among the top three candidates; each state gets a single vote (casting no vote if its House delegation deadlocks).

• The Senate chooses the vice president from the top two candidates, with each senator getting one vote.

• If the House cannot reach a majority, the vice president becomes acting president until that impasse is resolved.

But another method is described by President Frank Underwood (played by actor Kevin Spacey). In Episode 5's opening monologue, he misinforms us that if all else fails the election would be resolved by a coin toss. He lectures on the absurdity of choosing a president by what he calls "flip-ism."

That comment about the 12th Amendment is pure fiction. Yes, multiple states allow ties for state or local office to be resolved by some form of chance. Utah requires drawing lots. But neither our Constitution nor our statutes allow any federal election to be resolved by a form of chance. (Ralph Nader once suggested, however, that the 2000 Bush versus Gore contest should have been decided by a coin toss.)

In "House of Cards" no coin flip actually occurs, but that possibility is used to motivate people. Neither Frank Underwood nor his opponent had received the needed 270 Electoral College votes because Ohio and Tennessee could not certify their results, having closed their polls early due to Underwood-orchestrated fears of terrorism.

That is when the TV show again misleads viewers. Ohio and Tennessee are given mulligans — a re-vote so their tardy Electoral College votes could decide the election.

That violates the Article Two requirement that all presidential electors must cast their votes on the same day (as set by Congress), with an early January deadline for Congress to certify the electoral votes. There are no provisions for do-overs or late submissions. Strict adherence to those dates was upheld in Bush v. Gore; the Supreme Court enforced deadlines and halted Florida's recount, awarding its electoral votes to George W. Bush and ending the 2000 election.

Hollywood hated that ruling so it's no surprise that "House of Cards" disregards Bush v. Gore's requirements. The show is fiction so its writers can suspend reality whenever they wish. But their distortions can do real damage when viewers are given false understandings of our Constitution.

The writers do respect other provisions in creating elaborate plot twists. First Lady Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) runs for vice president on a ticket with her husband, the Electoral College deadlock allows her to become vice president by Senate vote, which makes her the acting president. But she reverts to vice president after the Ohio-Tennessee re-votes put Frank back in the Oval Office, then becomes our first female president when he resigns.

Whew! Except for the re-vote (and since no coin flip is held), that wild sequence is constitutionally possible.

"House of Cards" and other shows may provide popular entertainment, but beware relying on them to provide an accurate education about our Constitution.

Ernest Istook served 14 years as a U.S. congressman from Oklahoma and now teaches political science at Utah Valley University.