I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2844

To require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the House 

of Representatives not later than 21 days after the vacancy is announced 

by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in extraordinary circumstances, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2003

Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Mr. DREIER, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, 

Mr. COLE, Mr. CHABOT, and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL

To require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies 

in the House of Representatives not later than 21 days 

after the vacancy is announced by the Speaker of the 

House of Representatives in extraordinary circumstances, 

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Continuity in Rep5 resentation Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRING SPECIAL ELECTIONS TO BE HELD TO 

2 FILL VACANCIES IN HOUSE IN EXTRAOR3 DINARY CIRCUMSTANCES. 

4 Section 26 of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 8) is 

5 amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘The time’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 

7 IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (b), 

8 the time’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES IN EXTRAORDINARY CIR12 CUMSTANCES.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In extraordinary cir14 cumstances, the executive authority of any State in 

15 which a vacancy exists in its representation in the 

16 House of Representatives shall issue a writ of elec17 tion to fill such vacancy by special election. 

18 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF SPECIAL ELECTION.—A special 

19 election held under this subsection to fill a vacancy 

20 shall take place not later than 21 days after the 

21 Speaker of the House of Representatives announces 

22 that the vacancy exists, unless a regularly scheduled 

23 general election for the office involved is to be held 

24 at any time during the 51-day period which begins 

25 on the date of the announcement of the vacancy. 
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1 ‘‘(3) NOMINATIONS BY PARTIES.—If a special 

2 election is to be held under this subsection, not later 

3 than 14 days after the Speaker announces that the 

4 vacancy exists, the political parties of the State that 

5 are authorized to nominate candidates by State law 

6 may each nominate one candidate to run in the elec7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(4) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, 

10 ‘extraordinary circumstances’ occur when the 

11 Speaker of the House of Representatives an12 nounces that vacancies in the representation 

13 from the States in the House exceed 100. 

14 ‘‘(B) NO APPEALS IN HOUSE.—An an15 nouncement made under subparagraph (A) 

16 shall not be subject to appeal in the House. In 

17 the case of a death, the Speaker may lay before 

18 the House such documentation from Federal, 

19 State, or local officials as he deems pertinent. 

20 ‘‘(C) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—If any action is 

21 brought for declaratory or injunctive relief to 

22 challenge an announcement made under sub23 paragraph (A), the following rules shall apply: 

24 ‘‘(i) Not later than 2 days after the 

25 announcement, the action shall be filed in 
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1 the United States District Court having ju2 risdiction in the district of the Member of 

3 the House of Representatives whose seat 

4 has been announced to be vacant and shall 

5 be heard by a 3-judge court convened pur6 suant to section 2284 of title 28, United 

7 States Code. 

8 ‘‘(ii) A copy of the complaint shall be 

9 delivered promptly to the Clerk of the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 ‘‘(iii) A final decision in the action 

12 shall be made within 3 days of the filing 

13 of such action and shall not be reviewable. 

14 ‘‘(iv) The executive authority of the 

15 State that contains the district of the 

16 Member of the House of Representatives 

17 whose seat has been announced to be va18 cant shall have the right to intervene either 

19 in support of or opposition to the position 

20 of a party to the case regarding the an21 nouncement of such vacancy.’’.

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