Is it possible to resign as President-Elect?

[Dr. MB]

Say for example the President is reelected and between the Electoral College vote and January 20 some sort of scandal emerges that forces him to resign. Can he also resign as President-elect or will he automatically take office on January 20?

[NewYorkExpress]

That falls in with the question of can you be impeached for actions committed before you were elected as President (which sadly is looking very relevant at this point).

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If certainly would be possible for the President-elect to tender a resignation that took effect at noon, January 20, if not sooner. Worrying about not every conceivable situation being covered is pointless.

[brucejoel99]

On the off chance a President-elect actually backed out, the process of succession would depend on the precise moment at which he said, "Nah, never mind."

For example, the Electoral College may suddenly have real power rather than a rubber stamp b/c if the President-elect bowed out after winning in Nov. but before the electors met in each state to cast their ballots in Dec., then the electors could have the opportunity to vote for another candidate.

A majority of the 538 electors would be from one party, but they might not agree on the best alternative candidate. If no one won a majority of the electors, the contest between the top 3 vote-getters (one of whom would presumably be the opposition party's loser of the presidential election) would go to the House of Representatives, where each state would be given one vote, while the Senate would select the Vice President, w/ this vote taking place after newly elected representatives were seated in Jan.

It's also unclear what would happen if the President-elect bid adieu after the electoral votes were cast but before they were officially counted, per the 12th Amendment, by the president of the Senate before the joint session of Congress in January.

And if the President-elect left after the votes were counted in Congress but before he was sworn in on Jan. 20, the closest guidance would probably come from Section 3 of the 20th Amendment: "If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the president, the president-elect shall have died, the vice president-elect shall become president."

After all, nothing like this has ever happened... & while you can't discount the possibility of anything anymore, nothing like it likely ever will, too.