Filling U.S. Senate Vacancies: Perspective and Contemporary Developments, March 10, 2009

摘要

The presidential election of 2008 resulted, directly and indirectly, in the highest number of Senate vacancies associated with a presidential transition period in more than 60 years. The election of incumbent Senators as President and Vice President, combined with subsequent cabinet appointments, resulted in four Senate vacancies, in Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, and New York, all states in which the governor is empowered to appoint a temporary replacement. Protracted controversies surrounding the replacement process in two of these states drew scrutiny and criticism not only of the particular circumstances, but of the temporary appointment process itself. While the process of appointing temporary replacements to fill Senate vacancies has come under examination since the presidential election, the practice itself is as old as the Constitution, having been incorporated in the original document by the founders at the Constitutional Convention. The practice was revised by the 17th Amendment, which became effective in 1913. The amendments primary purpose was to substitute direct popular election of Senators for the original provision of election by state legislatures, but it also changed the requirements for filling Senate vacancies, by specifically directing the state governors to issue writs of election to fill such (Senate) vacancies.