Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Furqan Mohammed

Selected Works

2011

State and Local Government Law

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Law

Extracting Lessons From Illinois’ 2010 Special Election Fiasco: A Closer Look At The Seventh Circuit’S Decision In Judge V. Quinn And The Special Election Requirement Of The Seventeenth Amendment, Furqan Mohammed Apr 2011

Extracting Lessons From Illinois’ 2010 Special Election Fiasco: A Closer Look At The Seventh Circuit’S Decision In Judge V. Quinn And The Special Election Requirement Of The Seventeenth Amendment, Furqan Mohammed

Furqan Mohammed

This Note discusses the recent Seventh Circuit decision in Judge v. Quinn, in which the Seventh Circuit unanimously set aside Illinois’ Election Code under the Seventeenth Amendment because of the manner in which they filled vacant seats for U.S. Senator. This issue arose when then-Senator Barack Obama resigned from the Senate in November, 2008, to become President. When he resigned, Roland Burris was appointed to fill the seat. Illinois was not planning to hold a special election to fill Obama's seat because under Illinois Election Code, a special election to fill a vacant senate seat could only occur with the …