Houston, I just read your post #17, and that’s what I had read elsewhere.
I guess that if Lott resigns prior to Jan. 1 that Barbour must call the special election not later than early April. I hope Lott resigns in January instead of December, but if he insists on resigning on Dec. 31, I hope that Barbour calls the special election for April 9 (the last day possible) so that it’s as close to the income-tax filing date as possible (which would allow the GOP to remind voters about how the Democrats are poised to let the 2003 tax cuts expire, thereby raising taxes in 2011). In any event, I think that Chester will resign effective Dec. 31 and screw conservatives one last time (remember, Lott’s actions are what got us Democrat Congressman Taylor in his old congressional district).
I’ve been trying to think of ways that Gov. Barbour can get around the law and hold the special election in November. Since the law says that the date of the election must be announced within 10 days of the governor receiving notification of the vacancy, couldn’t Lott resign on Dec. 31 but send the notification to Barbour via regular mail, so Barbour wouldn’t be “notified” until early January? Such a scheme may not work, since the law says that the election must be held within 100 days of the notification unless the “vacancy shall occur” in a year in which there is a general election. If Lott resigns on Dec. 31 and Barbour receives notification on Jan. 4, would the vacancy have “occurred” on Jan. 4 or Dec. 31? The Mississippi Supreme Court would probably get to decide that, and it may not rule our way. I think the scheme is still worth it even if the courts rule that the election still needs to be held within 100 days of the notification, since it would allow Barbour to schedule the special election for April 13, when the tax issue would be even more on the minds of voters than if it were held on April 9.
If I were a Democrat, I would propose that Gov. Barbour could read the words “a year” in “unless the vacancy shall occur in a year that there shall be held a general state or congressional election” to mean “a 365-day period” instead of “a calendar year” and thus allow him to call the special election for November 8, 2008 so long as Lott resigned after November 9, 2007, but as a Republican I can’t make such a weaselly argument without cringing. : )
Lott has only announced his plan to resign before the end of the year. My guess is that he will officially resign around December 27, 2007, so that he can begin lobbying after just 1 year. If he waits until January 1, 2008, Lott can't lobby for 2 more years.
According to Mississippi law, Governor Barbour will then have up to 10 days to declare the seat vacant - which will almost definitely be after January 1, 2008 - and appoint a replacement. According to Mississppi law, 2008 is a general election year which sets a special election for November 2008.
Got it?
I don’t think your interpretation is so ludicrous. Remember, Mississippi holds its gubernatorial election in the 3rd year of the cycle (2007, 2003, etc.)
Was this law really crafted to cover vacancies created in November (election day plus one) and December 1988+4x, 1990+4x, 1991+4x, x an integer?
Surely it was crafted to cover vacancies created during Jan-Oct 1989+4x, x an integer.