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.

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

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 Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Continuity in Representation Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING SPECIAL ELECTIONS TO BE HELD TO FILL VACANCIES IN HOUSE IN EXTRAORDINARY 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 subsection:

`(b) SPECIAL RULES IN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES-

`(1) IN GENERAL- In extraordinary circumstances, 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 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 election.

`(4) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES-

`(A) IN GENERAL- In this subsection, `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) NO APPEALS IN HOUSE- An announcement 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 subparagraph (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 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 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.'.

END