I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 841
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 Representatives in extraordinary cir-
cumstances, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2005
Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Mr. DREIER, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, 
Mr. CHABOT, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. PAUL, and Mr. COLE of 
Oklahoma) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on House Administration 
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 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 Rep-
resentation Act of 2005’’.
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 elec-
tion 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 
vacancy 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 elec-
tion. 
‘‘(4) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In this subsection, 
‘extraordinary 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 
announcement, the action shall be filed in 
the United States District Court having ju-
risdiction 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 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 
Member of the House of Representatives 
whose seat has been announced to be va-
cant shall have the right to intervene either 
in support of or opposition to the position 
of a party to the case regarding the an-
nouncement of such vacancy. 
‘‘(5) PROTECTING
ABILITY
OF
ABSENT
MILI-
TARY AND OVERSEAS VOTERS TO PARTICIPATE IN 
SPECIAL ELECTIONS.—
‘‘(A) DEADLINE FOR TRANSMITTAL OF AB-
SENTEE
BALLOTS.—In conducting a special 
election held under this subsection to fill a va-
cancy in its representation, the State shall en-
sure to the greatest extent practicable (includ-
ing through the use of electronic means) that
absentee ballots for the election are transmitted 
to absent uniformed services voters and over-
seas voters (as such terms are defined in the 
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Vot-
ing Act) not later than 15 days after the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives an-
nounces that the vacancy exists. 
‘‘(B) 
PERIOD
FOR
BALLOT
TRANSIT 
TIME.—Notwithstanding the deadlines referred 
to in paragraphs (2) and (3), in the case of an 
individual who is an absent uniformed services 
voter or an overseas voter (as such terms are 
defined in the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 
Absentee Voting Act), a State shall accept and 
process any otherwise valid ballot or other elec-
tion material from the voter so long as the bal-
lot or other material is received by the appro-
priate State election official not later than 45 
days after the State transmits the ballot or 
other material to the voter. 
‘‘(6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING FED-
ERAL ELECTION LAWS.—Nothing in this subsection 
may be construed to affect the application to special 
elections under this subsection of any Federal law 
governing the administration of elections for Federal
office (including any law providing for the enforce-
ment of any such law), including, but not limited to, 
the following: 
‘‘(A) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 
U.S.C. 1973 et seq.), as amended. 
‘‘(B) The Voting Accessibility for the El-
derly and Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee 
et seq.), as amended. 
‘‘(C) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 
Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.), 
as amended. 
‘‘(D) The National Voter Registration Act 
of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.), as amend-
ed. 
‘‘(E) The Americans With Disabilities Act 
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), as amended. 
‘‘(F) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 
U.S.C. 701 et seq.), as amended. 
‘‘(G) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(42 U.S.C. 15301 et seq.), as amended.’’.
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