And if the states refuse to do this, I presume that because neither candidate will have 270 electoral votes the presidential election goes to the House and the vice-presidential election goes to the Senate ... right?
Exactamente.
UNLESS the winner is simply whoever has a majority of electoral votes cast. If the SC throws out these four states, Biden still leads in certified electoral votes 244-232. IF it is the case that the winner needs a simple majority of votes cast, then Trump still needs one state to flip. All 4 states require the governor to call a special legislative session in order for the legislatures to vote on electors. NONE of the four have any interest in doing so! We could see the SC give us what we want - decertify all 4 states - and still see Fraudulent Biden! All that is required is the 4 states do nothing.
No, it could be argued that if a state refused to name electors, the number of electors necessary for election would decline by half of that state’s number of electors.OTOH the provision of the US Constitution does say,
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress . . .Not “may,” shall.But it would of course be possible to name Electors pledged to a beloved figure in the state who will not win. That definitely would produce the result you suggest.
One game that could be played by the state legislatures would be to name electors pledged to Pence for POTUS rather than VP, and vice versa.
That could empower the House Republicans to consider voting that inverted ticket into office, since the House can choose among the top 3 Electoral vote-getters.