Norton Bill to Give District Flexibility in Scheduling Special Elections Passes House

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's (D-DC) bill to give the District of Columbia flexibility in scheduling special elections passed the House by voice vote this evening, February 29. The District Charter requires the city to wait 114 days before holding a special election to fill a vacancy, but Norton, at the request of the Mayor and D.C. Council, introduced the District of Columbia Special Election Reform Act (H.R. 3902) to amend the charter to provide a window between 70 and 174 days to hold a special election.

"I appreciate that the House passed this non-controversial bill today, as it did two years ago," Norton said. "I have already begun working with the Senate to get this bill signed into law quickly, now that an anonymous hold, which killed this bill last Congress, is no longer permitted in the Senate."

After Norton's special election bill passed the House last Congress, a senator placed an anonymous hold on it, stopping the legislation. Norton said that it is particularly frustrating because that bill could possibly have allowed the District to hold the election for the vacant Ward 5 Council seat on the regularly scheduled April 3, 2012, primary date, instead of being forced to hold a separate, costly special election in May.

Last Congress, during a House committee markup of the bill, the then ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Darrell Issa (R-CA), indicated that D.C. should not have to come to Congress on such matters. In November, Issa, now chairman of the committee, which has jurisdiction over the District, proposed a budget autonomy bill that, similar to Norton's bill, would allow the District's budget to take effect without congressional approval. Norton believes the Council should be able to amend many elements of the D.C. Charter without congressional approval as well.

The legislation applies to the Mayor and Council, as well as to the Attorney General, when that office becomes an elected position in 2014. By giving the District a window to hold special elections for these positions, the Board of Elections will be able to more quickly fill vacancies to maximize voter turnout by, for example, avoiding holding elections on religious holidays, and will more often be able to schedule special elections to coincide with regular elections.

Published February 29, 2012