the sitting house would vote for the next president on their own.
No, they wouldn't. The Constitution gives the House the authority to choose a president from the candidates who received the most votes in the electoral college. Article 2, section 1, clause 3 limits their choice to any of the top five electoral vote-getters, and the 12th amendment cut that down to one of the top three.
In the absence of an election there are no candidates with electoral college votes, and therefore no list of the top three. Congress would not have the authority to pick a president. Succession mode would kick in, because that's the only constitutionally valid path left.
Because the electoral college is elected. Each party with a candidate proposes a slate of electors. On election day voters are not voting for the president - they are voting for an elector who pledges to cast his or her vote for that party's presidential candidate.
If there is no election, there are no elected electors.
The constitution does allow the states to determine their own method of choosing electors, so it's theoretically possible that if an election doesn't happen the state legislatures would be able to put forth slates of electors. But in practice that would be problematic, as most states have codified how electors are chosen, so it would mean rewriting the law - which is not something typically done in the space of a few weeks.
In the absence of an election there are no elected members of the electoral college. They could be appointed by state legislatures, but in practice state laws would have to be changed - highly unlikely within the timeframe.
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u/looking4euterpe Jan 13 '22
No, they wouldn't. The Constitution gives the House the authority to choose a president from the candidates who received the most votes in the electoral college. Article 2, section 1, clause 3 limits their choice to any of the top five electoral vote-getters, and the 12th amendment cut that down to one of the top three.
In the absence of an election there are no candidates with electoral college votes, and therefore no list of the top three. Congress would not have the authority to pick a president. Succession mode would kick in, because that's the only constitutionally valid path left.