As a matter of intellectual interest, does anyone know of statutory/ constitutional provisions covering a situation analogous to that of a candidate withdrawing [=dying/ resiging] in mid-campaign -- where one or more additional vacancies occur for the same multi-seat electoral district? If an election (special or regular) is scheduled to fill the seat of the junior Senator for "West Dakota", say, and the senior Senator also dies or resigns a few months before the election, it would seem to make a lot of sense to fill the two vacancies together. However there would also be a strong argument for then allowing additional nominations -- each party would have nominated only one candidate for the longer-expected vacancy and would presumably welcome a chance to win an extra seat. It may be more complicated if the two vacancies, despite having the same electorate, are _not_ identical in legal powers or term of office -- if one is clearly senior in power (president/ VP) or has a longer term (junior/senior senator). Is there much, or any, existing jurisprudence on this sort of contingency?

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Dr Tom Round
BA (Hons), LL.B (UQ), PhD (GU)
Research Fellow, Key Centre for Ethics,
        Law, Justice and Governance (KCELJAG)
Room 1.10, Macrossan Building, Nathan Campus
        Griffith University, Queensland (Australia) 4111
Ph:     (061 or 07) 3875 3817
Mbl:    0438 167 304
Fax:    (061 or 07) 3875 6634
E-mail: T.Round@mailbox.gu.edu.au
Web: http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/kceljag/
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