 On Thursday, the U.S.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals once again
cited the U.S. Constitution in ruling that vacancies in the U.S.
Senate must be filled by special elections, reiterating a ruling
made last month.
In doing so, the court rejected an appeal from Illinois officials
that a special election would be too costly and impractical.
Illinois had a vacancy in the U.S. Senate when Barack Obama resigned
in November 2008 to prepare for becoming president of the United States.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich controversially appointed
former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill the vacancy.
A lawsuit filed in federal court claimed that even with the
appointment of Burris, the state still needed to hold a special
election to determine a permanent replacement, an argument that the
federal appellate court has now supported twice.
The ruling enhances the possibility that Illinois voters will make
two votes for the U.S. Senate on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.
One vote would determine who would serve as the junior senator from
Illinois for the 112th Congress. Democratic state Treasurer Alexi
Giannoulias and Republican congressman Mark Kirk are the
front-runners of a contentious race for the seat.
The other vote would be the special election to determine an interim
senator to serve the remainder of Barack Obama's term, from Nov. 3 to
Jan. 3, in the 111th Congress.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has given discretion to federal
District Judge John F. Grady to decide how such a double vote would
be implemented.
Marty Oberman, a lawyer who is part of the legal team arguing for a
special election, said one matter Grady would likely rule on is how
nominees for the special election would be chosen.
Oberman said there are two likely possibilities. One is that
political parties would get to choose the nominees for the special
election themselves, much like when Illinois Democrats recently
selected law professor Sheila Simon to replace former lieutenant
governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen.
The other possibility is that the current slate of nominees for U.S.
Senate, including front-runners Giannoulias and Kirk, could double
as nominees for the special election.
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Ken Menzel, a lawyer with the Illinois State Board of Elections,
said the agency still has some time to change ballots and prepare
for any rulings handed down by Grady.
"Until the (district) court orders someone to do something, we're
still in sort of wait-and-see mode as to exactly what needs to be
done," he said.
A spokeswoman with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office,
representing the collective defendants in the lawsuit, did not
specify what actions they would take at the district court level.
"We are working with the other parties as part of the process in the
district court, which will decide the appropriate next steps," the
spokeswoman said in an e-mail.
The case is Judge v. Quinn and is scheduled to resume Monday
afternoon in federal district court in Chicago.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By KEVIN LEE]
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