1. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this code as to specific offices, whenever a vacancy occurs in office by reason of death, resignation, or removal and the vacancy in office is one which is filled by a special election to complete the term of office, this section applies.

2. (B) In partisan elections, whether seeking nomination by political party primary or political party convention, filing by these candidates shall open for the office at twelve o'clock noon on the third Friday after the vacancy occurs for a period to close ten days later at twelve o'clock noon. If seeking nomination by petition, the petitions must be submitted not later than twelve o'clock noon, sixty days prior to the election. Verification of these petitions must be made not later than twelve o'clock noon forty-five days prior to the election. If seeking nomination by political party primary or political party convention, filing with the appropriate official is the same as provided in Section 7-11-15 and if seeking nomination by petition, filing with the appropriate official is the same as provided in Section 7-11-70.

   A primary must be held on the eleventh Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. A runoff primary must be held on the thirteenth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. The special election must be on the eighteenth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. If the eighteenth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs is no more than sixty days prior to the general election, the special election shall be held on the same day as the general election. If the filing period closes on a state holiday, then filing must be held open through the succeeding weekday. If the date for an election falls on a state holiday, it must be set for the next succeeding Tuesday. For purposes of this section, state holiday does not mean the general election day.

3. (C) If the office is not one for which there are partisan elections, then the filing must be opened at noon on the third Friday after the vacancy occurs for a period to close ten days later at noon. The filing must be made to the same entity to which the nonpartisan officeholders would normally file for office in a general election year. The election must be set for the thirteenth Tuesday after the vacancy occurs. Both the filing date and the election date are subject to the provisions in subsection (B) of this section regarding holidays.
4. (D) Provided, however, if a vacancy occurs in more than one office in the same county requiring separate special elections to be held within a period of twenty-eight days under the provisions of this section, the county board of voter registration and elections or other authority responsible for the conduct of the elections shall conduct all of the elections on the same date. The special elections must be held on the latest date required for an election during the twenty-eight-day period.

5. (E)

   1. (1) A special election to fill a vacancy in an office is not required to be conducted if fourteen calendar days have elapsed since the filing period for that office has closed and:

      1. (a) only one person has filed for the office; and
      2. (b) no person has filed a declaration to be a write-in candidate with the authority charged by law with conducting the election.
   2. (2) In such an event, the candidate who filed for the office is deemed elected and shall take office on the Monday following certification.

   3. (3) The provisions of this subsection also apply to municipal general elections.

      When no person has filed a declaration to be a write-in candidate pursuant to this section, the candidate who filed for the office must be declared the winner by the authority charged by law with conducting the election, and the votes for the election must not be counted or otherwise tabulated. Nothing in this section requires a ballot containing the name of a person who has been declared the winner pursuant to this section to be reprinted to delete the winning candidate's name or candidates' names from the ballot.

HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 493, eff June 9, 1986; 1988 Act No. 363, Section 3, eff March 14, 1988; 1988 Act No. 380, eff March 14, 1988; 1991 Act No. 61, Section 1, eff May 22, 1991; 1996 Act No. 226, Section 4, eff February 12, 1996; 1996 Act No. 243, Section 1, eff March 4, 1996; 1998 Act No. 412, Section 4, eff June 9, 1998; 2003 Act No. 3, Section 2, eff upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on January 16, 2003).

Code Commissioner's Note

Pursuant to the directive in 2014 Act No. 196, Section 8, at the direction of the Code Commissioner, references in this section to county election commissions or commissioners or county boards of voter registration were changed to the "Board of Voter Registration and Elections" and board members as appropriate.

Effect of Amendment

The 1988 amendment by Act No. 363, Section 3, in subsection (B) added language relating to nomination by political party primary, political party convention, or by petition, and also added references to Section 7-11-15.

The 1988 amendment by Act No. 380, added subsection (D), relating to the occurrence of a vacancy in more than one office in the same county.

The 1991 amendment in the second paragraph of (B) added "For purposes of this section, state holiday does not mean the general election day."

The first 1996 amendment by Act No. 226, effective February 12, 1996, revised subsection (B) to provide filing times for persons seeking nomination by petition.

The second 1996 amendment by Act No. 243, effective March 4, 1996, further revised subsection (B) to provide for timing of a special election with respect to the general election.

The 1998 amendment, in the first paragraph of subsection (B), added "twelve o'clock" in two places in the first sentence and rewrote the second sentence.

The 2003 amendment added subsection (E).