|
 |
 |
|
Mass. official: It's not precedent to immediately seat winner
It is not "precedent" to immediately seat the winner of Tuesday's Massachusetts special Senate election, a key state official's office said.
A spokesman for the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, whose office oversees elections, shot down suggestions that the winner of tonight's race should be seated immediately following the unofficial returns.
Republicans have recently argued that GOP candidate Scott Brown should be seated immediately if he wins Tuesday's election, as several polls are now predicting. Brown's immediate seating would allow him to become the 41st vote against the healthcare reform bill, solidifying a Republican filibuster against the proposal.
GOPers have pointed to the nearly immediate appointments of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Massachusetts Rep. Nikki Tsongas (D) as proof that Brown has the right to be seated immediately. Both won special election contests.
“There is clear precedent in Massachusetts to seat the winner of the election immediately," a Senate Republican aide told The Hill Tuesday.
McNiff, however, that the circumstances surroding Kennedy's and Tsongas' seating were different from this special election.
Kennedy was seated in 1962 counter to Senate rules. The Senate typically demands that new members be seated only after election results are certified.
Tsongas, said McNiff, was seated quickly at the request of the House of Representatives by letter. The state granted temporary certification to the new lawmaker.
The Coakley-Brown contest is expected to be close tonight, but McNiff said that the results could be sorted about before the 15-day certification deadline, giving the Democrats less time to usher through their healthcare bill should Brown win.
"It's not going to take that long to count," said McNiff, citing the fact that only three candidates have entered the race (the other being Independent Joseph L. Kennedy). The spokesman said that the winner would be seated once the results are certified, a process he said could take "a few days."
Legal challenges to the results from either side could lengthen the process.
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
