<P> The Seventeenth Amendment now requires the governor of the state to issue a writ for a special election to fill a vacant Senate seat , but no timeframe is specified in the provision for when the special election is to be held . State legislatures may also empower the governor to fill a vacancy by a temporary appointment , until the winner of the special election is certified . The constitution does not set out how the temporary appointee is to be selected ( eg. , there is no federal requirement that the appointee be of the same party , as happened most recently in New Jersey in 2013 ) , and the state legislature can legislate as to how the replacement is to be selected . </P>
<P> The Seventeenth Amendment now requires the governor of the state to issue a writ for a special election to fill a vacant Senate seat , but no timeframe is specified in the provision for when the special election is to be held . State legislatures may also empower the governor to fill a vacancy by a temporary appointment , until the winner of the special election is certified . The constitution does not set out how the temporary appointee is to be selected ( eg. , there is no federal requirement that the appointee be of the same party , as happened most recently in New Jersey in 2013 ) , and the state legislature can legislate as to how the replacement is to be selected . </P>
who calls a special election to fill a vacancy in the senate
who calls a special election to fill a vacancy in the senate
the governor
the governor