On Decembere 14, South Carolina Representative Rick Quinn (R-Lexington) said he will introduce a bill soon to require a special election for U.S. Senate vacancies. Current law in South Carolina and in most states says that when U.S. Senate seats become vacant, the Governor appoints a replacement, who serves until the next regularly-scheduled election.
The bill was prompted by the recent announcement that U.S. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina is about to resign.
Congress should regulate this.
When senators were elected by the legislature, the provision for a temporary appointment made sense, because the legislature might not be in session when a vacancy occurred. But all but one state had annual elections for their legislature, so another session would be within a year at worst.
But elections in the US have tended to become further apart.
Congress should require a special election to be held within 90 days, unless there is a general election or end of a term within 180 days, and require the use of a Top 2 special election of the form used in Louisiana, Texas, and California.
Runoff yes, top two no.
#2 Louisiana, Texas, and California use a runoff between the Top 2 candidates if no candidate receives a majority.
That’s fine, as long as they don’t have one if someone does. That’s known as a runoff election, which is different from what top two does.