# Filling vacancies in the U.S. House of Representatives

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filling-vacancies-in-the-u-s-house-of-representatives/402199>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 30, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filling-vacancies-in-the-u-s-house-of-representatives/402199 "2007-04-30T19:03:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filling-vacancies-in-the-u-s-house-of-representatives/402199/1 "2007-04-30T19:03:49Z")

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Art. I, Sec. 2, cl. 4 of the Constitution says, “When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.” Do all states provide for special elections, or do any permit a gubernatorial appointment, as with Senate vacancies (provided for in the 17th Amendment)?

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filling-vacancies-in-the-u-s-house-of-representatives/402199/2 "2007-04-30T19:34:40Z")

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I’ve never seen anything other than a special election for a vacant House seat. Since the Constitution specifies an election, then that’s what you have to do.

Remember – the House was supposed to be elected by the voters while the Senate was to be elected by the state legislatures. Since senators were not directly elected, it was less incumbent on having an election to replace a vacancy.

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**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filling-vacancies-in-the-u-s-house-of-representatives/402199/3 "2007-05-03T04:22:34Z")

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[QUOTE=RealityChuck]  
I’ve never seen anything other than a special election for a vacant House seat. Since the Constitution specifies an election, then that’s what you have to do.

Remember – the House was supposed to be elected by the voters while the Senate was to be elected by the state legislatures. Since senators were not directly elected, it was less incumbent on having an election to replace a vacancy.  
[/QUOTE]

All states fill House vacancies with a special election.

> **[U.S. Senate: 404 Error Page](https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/general/one_item_and_teasers/file_not_found.htm)**
>
> 404 Error Page

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filling-vacancies-in-the-u-s-house-of-representatives/402199/4 "2007-05-03T05:00:08Z")

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[QUOTE=RealityChuck]  
Since senators were not directly elected, it was less incumbent  
[/QUOTE]

Am I the only geek who found this construction hilarious?

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**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/filling-vacancies-in-the-u-s-house-of-representatives/402199/5 "2007-05-03T05:59:00Z")

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[QUOTE=Otto]

[QUOTE=RealityChuck]  
Since senators were not directly elected, it was less incumbent  
[/QUOTE]  
Am I the only geek who found this construction hilarious?  
[/QUOTE]  
Maybe it has something to do with the screen name, but I did as well.