Posted by Eugene Volokh:
"What Will Happen to Senator Stevens' Seat? It is Complicated,"
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_02-2008_11_08.shtml#1225953809
says [1]Prof. Rick Hasen (Election Law Blog). The question, of course,
is what will happen if he is reelected, but then resigns or is
expelled. Rick's answer:
There's a bit of a dispute over which rules apply. The old rules
(see here) provided for the governor to fill a vacancy and then to
call a special election afterwards, if the term would expire in
more than 30 months. A controversy over the last Alaskan governor
appointing his daughter to a vacant Senate seat led Alaska voters
to pass an initiative changing the law. Under the new law, the
governor still may appoint a temporary person to the seat, who sits
only until a special election is called in 60-90 days after the
vacancy occurs. Because Senator Stevens' term would expire in more
than 30 months, there's not much difference between these old and
new laws, except as to the timing of the special election.
There's a constitutional question under the 17th Amendment whether
[a change by voter initiative] to the means for filling Senate
vacancies are constitutional. Vik Amar thinks it is. I'm not so
sure (I address a similar, but not identical, issue in this paper).
So, either way, the governor will have the power to fill a vacancy
at least for the short time (meaning this [Wall Street Journal]
Washington Wire post is incorrect at the end).
Go to [2]Rick's post for more, and for the links to the various other
items he refers to.
References
1. http://electionlawblog.org/archives/012331.html
2. http://electionlawblog.org/archives/012331.html
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