Bill > S4664

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 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, 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. Timeframes Under the Bill This bill provides for an expedited process for filling a vacancy from this State in the United States House of Representatives. 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 removes the requirement that the election to fill the vacant seat be held on the same day as the next upcoming general election, and instead allows for a special election date to be designated. The bill specifies two ways in which a vacancy will be filled: (1) when the unexpired term to be filled equals or exceeds 180 days, the writ will designate the day on which a special primary election will be held, which will be not less than 70 days nor more than 76 days following the date of such proclamation, except that if a primary election is already scheduled to be held within 55 days following the day on which the special primary would be held, the writ may designate the special primary to be held on the same day as the regularly scheduled primary election. The special election will then be held not less than 64 nor more than 70 days following the day of the special primary election; or (2) when the unexpired term to be filled is less than 180 days, but in no case less than 135 days, the writ will designate a special day as the day on which the election will be held to fill such vacancy, which will be not less than 70 days nor more than 76 days following the date of such proclamation, and no primary election will be held for the nomination of candidates to fill such vacancy. The 180-day timeframe is based upon the amount of time required for the Governor to issue a writ for the election (up to 10 days), to conduct a primary election (70 to 76 days), to conduct a general election (64 to 70 days), to audit and certify the election results (up to 30 days), and have a new member take office. If a vacancy occurs in the final 135 days of an unexpired term, the seat will remain vacant until the start of a new term. Other Elections Procedures The bill also updates certain statutory language to reflect current practices and procedures. The bill removes language that required the writ of election to specify the day or days when the district boards would meet for the purpose of making, revising or correcting the registers of voters to be used at such special election. This no longer reflects standard practice. The bill further revises the requirement that notice of the special election be published once every week until the election is held, instead requiring that notice be published only once at least 45 days prior to the election. Under current law, all voters will receive additional notice by mail, in the form of a sample ballot or mail-in ballot. Finally, the bill specifies that, when a special election is to be held, the draw for candidate ballot position will be held as soon as practicable following the special primary election, provided that members of the public are given sufficient notice to witness the drawing. Current law does not distinguish between the ballot draw timelines for an election under normal timelines and the expedited process for filling vacancies.

Committee Categories

Andrew Zwicker (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee (on 06/26/2025)

Official Document