The deadline is Dec 13th, not December 20th. In the event of an unsettled controversy, the US Constitution grants the state legislature plenary power to appoint the electors for a state.
My response from the thread I started a few days ago:
FR MASTER THREAD: Recount info and updates for Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
12/1/2016, 11:45:43 PM · 146 of 146
doug from upland to WildHighlander57
I have two calls in to the Speaker of the House of the Wisconsin legislature. I am working on a piece about this or trying to get a national reporter to do it.
In 2000, I spoke with the Speaker’s office in the Florida legislature. If the recount was not solved in a timely manner, they were prepared to hold a session and award the electors to George Bush.
Here are Electoral Instructions - https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/roles.html
1. Appoint Electors
The United States Constitution and Federal law do not prescribe the method of appointment other than requiring that electors must be appointed on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November (November 8, 2016). In most States, the political parties nominate slates of electors at State conventions or central committee meetings. Then the citizens of each State appoint the electors by popular vote in the state-wide general election. However, State laws on the appointment of electors may vary.
Under the Constitution, State legislatures have broad powers to direct the process for selecting electors, with one exception regarding the qualifications of electors. Article II, section 1, clause 2 provides that “no Senator, Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States” may be appointed as an elector. It is not settled as to whether this restriction extends to all Federal officials regardless of their level of authority or the capacity in which they serve, but we advise the States that the restriction could disqualify any person who holds a Federal government job from serving as an elector.
If the Dems are delaying to prevent WI electors from being able to carry out their duty, I do not think they will get away with it. Both houses of the WI legislature are in the control of the GOP. I am disappointed that the Speaker’s office has not had someone return my call to give me the answer. I believe the WI legislature will be prepared to hold an emergency session and award the electors to Trump if the recount is not finished.
As you recall, WI Dems have been known for going across state lines and hiding to avoid having to vote. So the question would be raised about having a quorum to take the vote for awarding electors. In WI, it is required that to have a vote on fiscal matters, it takes 3/5 of the members being present for a quorum. So far, I cannot find such quorum requirement for electors since it is not a fiscal matter.
Maybe I am not getting a return call with the answer from the Speaker’s office because they don’t want the Dems to know their fallback position.
The GOP controls both houses in the Michigan legislature as well as the Pennsylvania legislature.