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  • Testimony On Legislation To Fill Us Senate Vacancies With Special Elections

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    Common Cause Maryland
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    The testimony supports SB 157, which would require a special election to fill any vacancies in the US Senate seat from Maryland. It argues that both the House and Senate are meant to be chambers that represent the people, and that allowing appointments rather than elections undermines this principle of representation. It notes that other states like Connecticut and Rhode Island have recently passed laws requiring special elections for Senate vacancies, and that Maryland should join them in honoring this constitutional principle.

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    Testimony on Legislation to Fill Us Senate Vacancies with Special Elections

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    The testimony supports SB 157, which would require a special election to fill any vacancies in the US Senate seat from Maryland. It argues that both the House and Senate are meant to be chambers that represent the people, and that allowing appointments rather than elections undermines this principle of representation. It notes that other states like Connecticut and Rhode Island have recently passed laws requiring special elections for Senate vacancies, and that Maryland should join them in honoring this constitutional principle.

    Copyright:

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    25 views1 page

    Testimony On Legislation To Fill Us Senate Vacancies With Special Elections

    Uploaded by

    Common Cause Maryland
    The testimony supports SB 157, which would require a special election to fill any vacancies in the US Senate seat from Maryland. It argues that both the House and Senate are meant to be chambers that represent the people, and that allowing appointments rather than elections undermines this principle of representation. It notes that other states like Connecticut and Rhode Island have recently passed laws requiring special elections for Senate vacancies, and that Maryland should join them in honoring this constitutional principle.

    Copyright:

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    Testimony in Support of SB 157

    Special Election to Fill Vacancy in the Office of United States Senator

    Ryan O’Donnell, Executive Director

    February 4, 2010

    Madam Chair and Members of the Committee:

    Representation demands elections, even if inconvenient.

    The US House of Representatives is known as the “people’s house.” Never has anyone
    taken a seat in that body without being elected to it. This is a principle written into our
    Constitution.

    After the passage of the 17th Amendment, members of the US Senate were no longer
    appointed by the state legislature. At this point, the Senate too became a “people’s
    chamber.” Nobody would seriously vote to repeal that right today.

    But that is exactly the right that is lost when states choose selections over elections to
    fill vacancies. When that happens, not only is a crucial principle jeopardized. Political
    risks are assumed as well. We have seen appointments bring gamesmanship and
    backroom deals into the selection process, everywhere from Illinois to Delaware.

    We may say that won’t happen here, but we ought not to take the risk at all. We ought
    not to dismiss the danger based on the judgments we make about our own wisdom or
    upstandingness or good intentions. Either way, the political appointment of US Senators
    belongs to the past.

    Maryland has the power to change this. Recently, Connecticut's Republican governor
    signed the Democratic legislature's bill requiring special elections for Senate vacancies.
    The Rhode Island legislature passed legislation by overwhelming margins.

    Since the passage of the 17th Amendment (1913), 179 senators have been appointed
    undemocratically. Only three states, Massachusetts, Oregon and Wisconsin, now
    mandate a special election to fill Senate vacancies. Oklahoma and Mississippi, allow for a
    special election outside of a certain time period before the next congressional election.

    It’s time for Maryland to join a growing movement of states that want to honor a vital
    principle in our Constitution.

    Sincerely,

    Ryan O’Donnell,
    Executive Director

    (410) 269-6888 / ccmd@commoncause.org / PO BOX 942 Annapolis, MD 21404

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