[{"command":"add_css","data":[{"rel":"stylesheet","media":"all","href":"\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_veuEhhb1658wti0_ZAig66JOyixENU-N9zhjLQSLfOQ.css?delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=heritage_theme\u0026include=eJwrTi1LzdNPzkksLq7Uy8tPSQUAPMsGtA"}]},{"command":"invoke","selector":null,"method":"openEssay","args":["10000008","\n\n\u003Carticle about=\u0022\/constitution\/articles\/1\/essays\/9\/executive-writs-of-election\u0022 class=\u0022node node--type-constitution-essay node--promoted node--view-mode-embedded clearfix\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Ch1 class=\u0022title\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EExecutive Writs of Election\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003C\/h1\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-location\u0022\u003E\n      Article I, Section 2, Clause 4\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-context\u0022\u003E\n      \n            \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-body\u0022\u003E\n    \n            \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the phrasing of the Executive Writs\u003Ci\u003E \u003C\/i\u003Eof Election Clause varied until the Committee of Style established its final wording, there was no dispute among the Framers as to the necessity of having vacant House seats filled by special election. James Madison wrote in \u003Ci\u003EThe Federalist\u003C\/i\u003E No. 52, \u201cAs it is essential to liberty that the government in general should have a common interest with the people, so it is particularly essential that the branch of it under consideration [the House] should have an immediate dependence on, and an intimate sympathy with, the people. Frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured.\u201d The House of Representatives is unique in that it is the only part of the federal government that is required by the Constitution\u2019s text to be composed only of those who are elected.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe clause vests the governor with the responsibility of calling such special elections to fill vacant House seats. Justice Joseph Story wrote of the clause that \u201c[i]t is obvious, that such a power ought to reside in some public functionary\u201d and that the Constitution vests such power with \u201cthe State Executive, which is best fitted to exercise it with promptitude and discretion.\u201d In fact, the clause combined the principles of those who did not want to see \u201cthe people\u201d unrepresented in any part of the government with those who desired to continue to support state authority over the electoral process.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the clause imposes a mandatory duty on governors to issue writs of election to fill vacancies in the United States House of Representatives. \u003Ci\u003EJackson v. Ogilvie\u003C\/i\u003E (1970). More specifically, the court held that in performing that duty, the governor has the discretion to choose one day of the week over another on which to issue writs of election, but he does not have the discretion to decide against issuing the writs of election altogether. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has also held the clause imposes a mandatory duty, leaving only the possibility that a governor could avoid such duty when the time remaining on the congressional term \u201cis truly de minimus.\u201d \u003Ci\u003EAmerican Civil Liberties Union\u003C\/i\u003E \u003Ci\u003Eof Ohio, Inc. v. Taft \u003C\/i\u003E(2004). The rule had been\u003Ci\u003E \u003C\/i\u003Earticulated earlier in \u003Ci\u003EUnited States Term Limits,\u003C\/i\u003E \u003Ci\u003EInc. v. Thornton \u003C\/i\u003E(1995), when Justice Clarence Thomas for the four-person dissent indicated that the clause prescribes an affirmative duty on the state executive to issue a writ whenever a vacancy occurs.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--media\u0022\u003E\n            \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--info\u0022\u003E\n              \u003Ch4 class=\u0022con-essay-author--name\u0022\u003E\n                      Paul Taylor\n                  \u003C\/h4\u003E\n                  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--job\u0022\u003E\n         Chief Counsel, House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice\n      \u003C\/div\u003E\n            \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-tabs\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cul data-tabs class=\u0022tabs\u0022\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000008-taba\u0022\u003EFurther Reading\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000008-tabb\u0022\u003ECase Law\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000008-tabc\u0022\u003ERelated Essays\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n      \u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv data-tabs-content\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000008-taba\u0022\u003E\n          \n      \u003Cdiv\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPaul Taylor, \u003Ci\u003EAlternatives to a Constitutional Amendment: How Congress May Provide for the Quick, Temporary Filling of House Member Seats in Emergencies by Statute\u003C\/i\u003E, 10 J.L. \u0026amp; Pol\u0027y 373 (2002)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n          \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \n        \u003C\/div\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000008-tabb\u0022\u003E\n          \n      \u003Cdiv\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJackson v. Ogilvie, 426 F.2d 1333 (7th Cir. 1970)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnited States Term Limits v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995) (Thomas, J., dissenting)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EACLU of Ohio v. Taft, 217 F. Supp. 2d 842 (S.D. Ohio 2002)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n          \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \n        \u003C\/div\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000008-tabc\u0022\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000018\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003EElection Regulations\u003C\/a\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000178\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003EVacancies in the Senate\u003C\/a\u003E\n                  \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \n\u003C\/article\u003E\n"]}]