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.
Hmmm . . . “unless the vacancy shall occur in a year that there shall be held a general election . . . .” 2007 is indeed a general-election year in MS, as is 2008. Of course, a vacancy occuring after the November 2007 general election does not really occur in a year “that there shall be a general election,” since the general election already passed. In the case of a vacancy occurring on, say, November 1 of a general election year, it would obviously be too close to the general election to allow the special election to be held that same year, and I assume that the Governor would have to call a special election within 100 days of receiving notice of the vacancy. The November 1, 2007 vacancy scenario may be instructive, since it would be a vacancy taking place within a calendar year in which a general election is held, but the special election would not be able to be held on the 2007 general-election date; the same would be true for a December 31 vacancy. Of course, the difference between the two scenarios is that the Nov. 1, 2007 vacancy would take place more than one year from the Nov. 8, 2008 general election date while the Dec. 31 vacancy would take place less than one year from such date. Very interesting.
BTW, another reason why we’re far better off with the special election being held in November than in April is that probably the most dangerous Democrat candidate, socially conservative Congressman Gene Taylor, could run for the Senate in April without risking his November reelection to the House.