Bill > S3282

Introduced Session

This bill expedites the process for filling a vacancy from this State in the United States House of Representatives under certain circumstances. Under current law, and pursuant to the United States Constitution and federal law, vacancies in the United States House of Representatives are required to be filled by special election. In contrast to the provisions for filling vacancies in the United States Senate, where the Governor may make a temporary appointment to fill the vacancy until it can be filled by election for the unexpired term, the United States Constitution does not provide for the temporary appointment of a Representative. The Governor has the responsibility to issue a writ of election to fill the vacancy, while the Legislature may prescribe by law the election's scheduling. Current law provides that it is the duty of the Governor to issue a writ of election to fill such vacancy, unless the term of service for the vacant office will expire within six months next after the happening of the vacancy. Therefore, if the vacancy happens on or after July 3 of the second year of the Representative's two-year term of office, then the vacancy is not required to be filled. Current Law Circumstances and Timeframes Current law specifies three different vacancy scenarios under which the Governor is required or permitted to designate the next general election day to fill the vacancy, permitted to designate a special election day to fill the vacancy, and whether a primary election or a special primary election is required to nominate the candidates for election. (1) General Election With a Primary Election - if the vacancy happens in any year, not later than the 70th day prior to the day for holding the next primary election for the general election, the Governor is required to issue a writ of election to fill the vacancy designating the next general election day as the day on which the election will be held to fill such vacancy, with the nomination of candidates made in the same manner as the nomination of other candidates at said primary election. This scenario would typically cover vacancies occurring in January, February, and most of March of either year of the Representative's two-year term of office, with the primary election occurring in June and the general election occurring in November. (2) General Election Without a Primary Election - if the vacancy happens in any year later than the 70th day prior to the day for holding the primary election for the general election but before the 70th day preceding the day of the general election, and the unexpired term to be filled exceeds one year, the Governor is permitted to designate the next general election day as the day on which the election will be held to fill such vacancy, and that no primary election will be held for the nomination of candidates. Each political party selects its candidate to fill such vacancy in the same manner as under current law for selecting candidates to fill vacancies that arise among candidates that won the primary election and were thereby nominated to appear on the general election ballot. This scenario would typically cover vacancies occurring in the period from the last days of March through the last days of August, but only in the first year of the Representative's two-year term of office, with the general election occurring in November. (3) Special Election With a Special Primary Election - the Governor is permitted in the writ of election to designate a special day for the election to fill the vacancy, specifying the day on which a special primary election must be held, which must be not less than 70 days nor more than 76 days following the issuance of the writ, and specifying the day on which the special election must be held, which must be not less than 64 days nor more than 70 days following the day of the special primary election. Under this scenario, the special election to fill the vacancy could occur approximately 134 to 143 days after the issuance of the writ of election. Current law does not specify a timeframe for the Governor to issue the writ of election. Expedited Timeframes Under the Bill This bill expedites the process for filling a vacancy from this State in the United States House of Representatives under certain circumstances. Specifically, the bill establishes a timeframe of within 10 days of the occurrence of the vacancy for the Governor to issue a writ of election. The bill also requires a special election to be held to fill the vacancy when such vacancy occurs in any year earlier than in the month of July. A special election would also be required to be held under the bill when such vacancy occurs after the 70th day preceding the day of the general election and the unexpired term to be filled exceeds one year. Finally, the bill eliminates the requirement to hold a primary election or a special primary election in all House of Representatives vacancy scenarios. Each political party would select its candidate to fill such vacancy in the same manner as under current law for selecting candidates to fill vacancies that arise among candidates that won the primary election and were thereby nominated to appear on the general election ballot. The bill specifies three different vacancy scenarios under which the Governor would be required to issue a writ to fill the vacancy at either the general election or at a special election. (1) General Election - if the vacancy happens in any year not earlier than July 1 but on or before the 70th day preceding the day of the general election, the Governor, in issuing a writ of election to fill the vacancy, would be required to designate the next general election day as the day to fill the vacancy and that no primary election will be held for the nomination of candidates. This scenario would typically cover vacancies occurring in the month of July through the end of August in any year of a Representative's two-year term of office, with the general election occurring in November. (2) Special Election in Any Year - if the vacancy happens in any year earlier than July 1, the Governor, in issuing a writ of election to fill such vacancy, would be required to designate in said writ a special election day as the day to fill the vacancy and that no primary election will be held for the nomination of candidates. The day designated for the special election would be not less than 70 days nor more than 80 days following the issuance of the writ of election. This scenario would cover vacancies occurring in the months of January through June in any year of a Representative's two-year term of office, with the special election occurring at least 70 days but not more than 90 days after the occurrence of the vacancy, when accounting for the "within 10 days" timeframe established under the bill for the Governor to issue the writ of election. (3) Special Election in First Year - if the vacancy happens after the 70th day preceding the day of the general election and the unexpired term to be filled exceeds one year, the Governor, in issuing a writ of election to fill such vacancy, would be required to designate in said writ a special election day as the day to fill the vacancy and that no primary election will be held for the nomination of candidates. The day designated for the special election would be not less than 70 days nor more than 80 days following the issuance of the writ of election. This scenario would typically cover vacancies occurring from the end of August through the month of December in the first year of a Representative's two-year term of office, with the special election occurring at least 70 days but not more than 90 days after the occurrence of the vacancy, when accounting for the "within 10 days" timeframe established under the bill for the Governor to issue the writ of election. The minimum 70-day timeframe before an election is derived from the amount of time needed for election officials and candidates to meet the various deadlines, such as ballot printing and mailing, established for conducting an election in this State in compliance with State and federal law requirements.

Committee Categories

John McKeon (D)*,  Andrew Zwicker (D)*, 

Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Hearing (10:00:00 5/29/2025 Committee Room 6, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ) (on 05/29/2025)

Official Document