IB 
Union Calendar No. 233
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2844
[Report No. 108–404, Parts I and II] 
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 cir-
cumstances, 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. 
DECEMBER 8, 2003
Reported from the Committee on House Administration with amendments; re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary for a period ending not later 
than January 31, 2004, for consideration of such provisions of the bill 
and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant 
to clause 1(k), rule X 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
JANUARY 28, 2004
Additional sponsors: Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. COX, 
and Mr. BERMAN 
JANUARY 28, 2004
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with amendments, committed 
to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and 
ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in boldface roman] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 24, 2003] 
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Continuity in Represen-
tation Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIRING SPECIAL ELECTIONS TO BE HELD TO 
FILL VACANCIES IN HOUSE IN EXTRAOR-
DINARY CIRCUMSTANCES. 
Section 26 of the Revised Statutes of the United States 
(2 U.S.C. 8) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘The time’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) IN 
GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
time’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) SPECIAL
RULES
IN
EXTRAORDINARY
CIR-
CUMSTANCES.—
‘‘(1) 
IN
GENERAL.—In 
extraordinary 
cir-
cumstances, the executive authority of any State in 
which a vacancy exists in its representation in the 
House of Representatives shall issue a writ of election 
to fill such vacancy by special election. 
‘‘(2) TIMING OF SPECIAL ELECTION.—A special 
election held under this subsection to fill a vacancy 
shall take place not later than 45 days after the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives announces 
that the vacancy exists, unless a regularly scheduled 
general election for the office involved is to be held at 
any time during the 75-day period which begins on 
the date of the announcement of the vacancy. 
‘‘(3) NOMINATIONS
BY
PARTIES.—If a special 
election is to be held under this subsection, not later 
than 10 days after the Speaker announces that the va-
cancy exists, the political parties of the State that are 
authorized to nominate candidates by State law may 
each nominate one candidate to run in the election. 
‘‘(4) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, ‘ex-
traordinary circumstances’ occur when the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives an-
nounces that vacancies in the representation 
from the States in the House exceed 100.
‘‘(B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—If any action is 
brought for declaratory or injunctive relief to 
challenge an announcement made under sub-
paragraph (A), the following rules shall apply: 
‘‘(i) Not later than 2 days after the an-
nouncement, the action shall be filed in the 
United States District Court having juris-
diction in the district of the Member of the 
House of Representatives whose seat has 
been announced to be vacant and shall be 
heard by a 3-judge court convened pursuant 
to section 2284 of title 28, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(ii) A copy of the complaint shall be 
delivered promptly to the Clerk of the House 
of Representatives. 
‘‘(iii) A final decision in the action 
shall be made within 3 days of the filing of 
such action and shall not be reviewable. 
‘‘(iv) The executive authority of the 
State that contains the district of the Mem-
ber of the House of Representatives whose 
seat has been announced to be vacant shall 
have the right to intervene either in support 
of or opposition to the position of a party
to the case regarding the announcement of 
such vacancy.’’.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Continuity 
in Representation Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIRING SPECIAL ELECTIONS TO BE HELD TO 
FILL VACANCIES IN HOUSE IN EXTRAOR-
DINARY CIRCUMSTANCES. 
Section 26 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States (2 U.S.C. 8) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘The time’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 
in subsection (b), the time’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following 
new subsection: 
‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES IN EXTRAORDINARY CIR-
CUMSTANCES.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In extraordinary 
circumstances, the executive authority of 
any State in which a vacancy exists in its 
representation in the House of Rep-
resentatives shall issue a writ of election 
to fill such vacancy by special election. 
‘‘(2) TIMING
OF
SPECIAL
ELECTION.—A 
special election held under this sub-
section to fill a vacancy shall take place 
not later than 45 days after the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives an-
nounces that the vacancy exists, unless a 
regularly scheduled general election for 
the office involved is to be held at any 
time during the 75-day period which be-
gins on the date of the announcement of 
the vacancy. 
‘‘(3) NOMINATIONS
BY
PARTIES.—If a 
special election is to be held under this 
subsection, not later than 10 days after 
the Speaker announces that the vacancy 
exists, the political parties of the State 
that are authorized to nominate can-
didates by State law may each nominate 
one candidate to run in the election. 
‘‘(4) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In this sub-
section, ‘extraordinary circumstances’ 
occur when the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives announces that 
vacancies in the representation from 
the States in the House exceed 100.
‘‘(B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—If any ac-
tion is brought for declaratory or in-
junctive relief to challenge an an-
nouncement made under subpara-
graph (A), the following rules shall 
apply: 
‘‘(i) Not later than 2 days after 
the 
announcement, 
the 
action 
shall be filed in the United States 
District Court having jurisdiction 
in the district of the Member of 
the 
House 
of 
Representatives 
whose seat has been announced 
to be vacant and shall be heard 
by a 3-judge court convened pur-
suant to section 2284 of title 28, 
United States Code. 
‘‘(ii) A copy of the complaint 
shall be delivered promptly to the 
Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives. 
‘‘(iii) A final decision in the 
action shall be made within 3 
days of the filing of such action 
and shall not be reviewable.
‘‘(iv) The executive authority 
of the State that contains the dis-
trict of the Member of the House 
of Representatives whose seat has 
been announced to be vacant 
shall have the right to intervene 
either in support of or opposition 
to the position of a party to the 
case regarding the announcement 
of such vacancy.’’.
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to require States 
to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the House of 
Representatives not later than 45 days after the vacancy 
is announced by the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives in extraordinary circumstances, and for other pur-
poses.’’.
Union Calendar No. 233
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2844
[Report No. 108–404, Parts I and II] 
A BILL 
To require States to hold special elections to fill va-
cancies 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 pur-
poses. 
JANUARY 28, 2004
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with 
amendments, committed to the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered 
to be printed