On June 27, a U.S. District Court upheld Arizona’s policy of not holding an election to fill John McCain’s Senate seat until November 2020. McCain died in August 2018. The voters who filed the lawsuit Tedards v Ducey, 2:18cv-4241, had argued that the constitutional protections for voters required that the election should be sooner than that. Here is the 25-page decision.
The voters also challenged the Arizona law that requires the Governor to appoint a new U.S. Senator who is a member of the same party as the Senator who is being replaced. The opinion says the plaintiffs don’t have standing to challenge that law.
One more NO brainer op.
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Abolish the minority rule USA Senate.
Candidate/incumbent replacement lists during election period / term for PR legislative bodies.
Some states have a statutory provision that an appointment be filled by someone from the same party as the former senator. That is just a way of describing a set of eligible appointees. So why can’t a senator designate a set of individuals which a governor may choose from among. Let’s say five persons.
An issue to resolve is whether McSally is Kyl’s replacement. Or McCain’s replacement.the 17th Amendment refers to vacancies in the plural. This was presumably borrowed from Article I, Section 2, Clause 4, and therefore is referring to both senators no longer serving, rather than serial vacancies. The writs of elections are for the McCain vacancy. It makes no sense for there to be new writs for the Kyl vacancy. But is there authority for a second replacement?
Congress should exercise its time-manner authority over senatorial elections to require a special election within 60 days of a vacancy (Texzs style with no nominations, and a runoff if necessary). Congress could subsidize the election, and drain any outstanding campaign accounts.
Just another reason why we need to expand the senate, use single transferable elections, and use the countback method to fill vacancies. You basically take the results from prior election and re-conduct the count to fill the last seat.
@Aiden,
That would require a constitutional amendment, which is not going to happen.
How large would you make the senate?
ALL sorts of stuff has combined to produce the setup for Civil W-A-R II.
ANTI-Democracy Minority Rule gerrymanders — Congress and all 50 State legis. and many local govts.
LAWLESS Execs – Prezs, Guvs, mayors, etc.
Party hack courts – esp SCOTUS.
IE – TOTAL ROT in all 3 branches of govts.
See esp END of the Roman Republic in 120 BC-27 BC.
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PR and AppV and TSOP