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 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 
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 Rep-
resentation 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 (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 21 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 51-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 14 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) NO
APPEALS
IN
HOUSE.—An an-
nouncement made under subparagraph (A) 
shall not be subject to appeal in the House. In 
the case of a death, the Speaker may lay before 
the House such documentation from Federal, 
State, or local officials as he deems pertinent. 
‘‘(C) 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.’’.
Æ