Quote:
Originally Posted by LazyScot
Out of curiosity, who would be president on the 21st Jan 2009 if they haven't agreed who got what votes by the 20th Jan 2009?
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The existing president. He remains president (unless removed by death, impeachment, or agreed to incapacity) until the next president is sworn in. (In the Rutherford B. Hayes situation (1876), Congress had made the final decision on March 2, two days before the inauguration.)
This admittedly is a gray area of our constitution. We have no mechanism to handle death of a elected but uninaugurated President, nor a death of a late stage candidate. There is no provision for a revote under such circumstances, nor for the vice presidential candidate to succeed either.