On November 20, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Riley v Kennedy, no. 07-77. This is an appeal brought by Alabama Governor Bob Riley, to overturn a U.S. District Court 3-judge ruling that denied him the ability to appoint a replacement county commissioner. The lower had court said there should be a special election to fill the vacancy.

The issue is complicated and involves the interaction of the federal Voting Rights Act (especially the pre-clearance part of that law) with any state’s State courts. The case is even more complicated because the legislature had changed the law a few years ago on how to handle vacancies in county commissions. The case is not about the virtues of holding special elections versus the virtures of filling vacancies by gubernatorial appointment.