H.R. 8581

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8581 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8581

To require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the 
House of Representatives not later than 180 days after a vacancy occurs 
in the House of Representatives, and for other purposes.

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 29, 2026

Mr. Menefee (for himself, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. 
Norton, Mrs. Beatty, and Mr. Johnson of Georgia) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 
Administration

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A BILL

To require States to hold special elections to fill vacancies in the 
House of Representatives not later than 180 days after a vacancy occurs 
in the House of Representatives, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Special Election Timeliness Act'' or 
the ``SET Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING SPECIAL ELECTIONS TO BE HELD TO FILL VACANCIES IN 
HOUSE.

(a) In General.--Section 26(a) of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States (2 U.S.C. 8(a)) is amended to read as follows:
``(a) In General.--
``(1) Special election to fill vacancy.--Except as provided 
in subsection (b) and subject to the requirements under 
paragraph (2), the time for holding elections in any State, 
District, or Territory for a Representative or Delegate to fill 
a vacancy, whether such vacancy is caused by a failure to elect 
at the time prescribed by law, or by the death, resignation, or 
incapacity of a person elected, may be prescribed by the laws 
of the several States and Territories respectively.
``(2) Deadline for special election.--A special election to 
fill a vacancy under paragraph (1) shall occur not later than 
180 days after the date the vacancy occurs, unless a regularly 
scheduled general election for the office involved is to be 
held at any time during the 180-day period which begins on the 
date the vacancy occurs.
``(3) Civil enforcement.--
``(A) In general.--The Attorney General may bring a 
civil action against the chief executive of the State 
concerned in an appropriate district court for such 
declaratory or injunctive relief as is necessary to 
carry out this subsection.
``(B) Private right of action.--A person who is 
aggrieved by a violation of this subsection, including 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the 
Minority Leader of the House, may bring a civil action 
against the chief executive of the State concerned in 
an appropriate district court for such declaratory or 
injunctive relief as may be necessary to carry out this 
subsection.
``(4) Special election defined.--For purposes of this 
subsection, the term `special election' means an election for 
purposes of electing a candidate to fill a vacancy described in 
paragraph (1) and does not include an election for purposes of 
nominating candidates to fill such a vacancy.''.
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