What I don't understand is why in the USA they don't just count the votes and then announce the result when that's done, instead of leaking the numbers bit by bit. That's the way it's done in most countries, so far as I'm aware. Estimates of how an election is going may get made by the media in the meantime, but they only have the status of predictions.

And why mess around with an extended Lame Duck period (which with Donald is going to be more of a Mad Duck period). It'd be perfectly possible for most of the transitional handover to be done on a provisional basis in advance of the election, and to have an immediate handover when the result of the election is declared.

"The King is Dead. Long Live the King." That's a pretty tried and tested way of managing these things.